Emergency crews were called to George’s Café in the 5400 block of 4th Street just before 2:30 for the report of a vehicle hitting a building. 

A photojournalist at the scene confirmed that a vehicle did appear to go through the front of the restaurant.  The vehicle appeared to be all the way inside the building.  There are early reports of three people injured.  None of the injuries were thought to be life-threatening according to officials at the scene.

Erik Mahal works as a cook in the kitchen at George’s. He called 911 when the car plowed through the restaurant.

“I just dropped an order down, and all of a sudden I heard a violent sound. Glass shattering, started to hear people scream, that’s when I looked up and saw the car making its way into the restaurant,” he said.

“At that point, I called 911. I went back and shut the power off to the building, and ran out front to where I found our waitresses doing a great job kind of making sure nobody was in critical critical condition. Telling everybody not to move, just kind of calm down, stay where they are,” he explained.

“The focus was on the people who were hurt and the driver to make sure nothing happened to them as well,” Mahal added. “That was our first priority in that moment. Make sure everybody was safe, and that the people involved were at the very least, stable.”

Mahal said most of the damage to the restaurant was cosmetic.

“It took out this front glass pane… and she did run into a wall, so right now the biggest thing on our plate is making sure that the building is up to structure code with the city, and the electrical code checks out and then the health code back in the kitchen. Luckily there was no damage done to the kitchen or anything like that,” Mahal said.

“It’s your worst fear- is a car going into your place of business, and it’s good just to have people who can come over and check on you and make sure everything’s okay,” said Anna Reyes, who works at a nearby business.

“It’s one of the big reasons why I love working here. George’s– we’re a staple here in the community, and we have a lot of regulars, and we make relationships with those people as well,” Mahal said.

Mahal said one of the employees on scene at the time had visited with one of the injured patrons at the hospital later in the day.

“We love our customers and we want to make sure everything is safe and ready to go, to get them back in here and serve them the good food we know they love,” he said.

Restaurant staff posted an update on George’s Facebook page. Employees anticipated reopening for service Sunday morning, but said another update would be posted on the page with more accurate details.

Police said the driver of a vehicle hit the gas instead of the brake.  The driver and a passenger were not hurt.