NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Crews spent most of the day Thursday cleaning up the Waffles, INCaffeinated restaurant in North Huntingdon after a car jumped the curb and drove straight into the window and into a seating area of the restaurant on Wednesday.
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It shattered the glass, plowed through tables and chairs, and hit the wall before coming to a stop. Surveillance video obtained by Channel 11 shows the driver quickly backed out of the building after impact.
“Caused quite a bit of damage as you can see, we’re getting it pretty well cleaned up,” said Gordon Sheffer.
Sheffer, the restaurant’s managing partner, said he’s thankful no one was inside when this happened. The crash happened just before 5 p.m. The restaurant closes at 2 p.m.
“I think it’s very, very fortunate and we’re very very happy about it,” Sheffer said. “When you just have property damage, that can all be mended quickly.”
One of the most important things the restaurant needed to do before they could reopen was bracing the kitchen wall for a temporary fix. That’s all done, and employees were cleaning the kitchen Thursday. They plan to be open again on Friday morning at 8 a.m.
They also want to clean up the glass, but that section will remain closed for seating.
Sheffer told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek it wasn’t too ambitious of a goal to reopen Friday.
“Oh no, we’re well under control,” Sheffer said. “All the contractors we use have been very cooperative and have responded today. We appreciate everyone’s efforts to get us cleaned up and able to open tomorrow.”
Sheffer said they believe the man driving the SUV had it in the wrong gear.
“I think he was just confused as to what gear he had it in,” Sheffer said. “Those things happen. Like I said you just pick up and keep trying to move forward.”
Sheffer said the driver of the car is expected to be okay.
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