Car slams into Las Vegas restaurant during lunch
LAS VEGAS Ten people were seriously injured and at least person was arrested Monday after a car plowed into the patio of a Las Vegas restaurant during the lunch hour and came to rest with its hood inside a shattered plate glass window.
Victims were transported to two nearby hospitals with non-life threatening injuries after the crash at the Egg & I restaurant shortly after 12:30 p.m., according to Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski. Four had to be extricated from beneath the vehicle.
Witness Suziliene McDonald was sitting with two sisters in the restaurant when she says she saw the vehicle speeding toward the window.
"I screamed, `A car's coming!' and it exploded through the window," McDonald said.
CBS affiliate KXNT's Brian Shapiro was told by witnesses at the scene the driver tried to flee after the crash, attempted to dispose of drugs. Several customers chased after him and wrestled him down.
Manager Sarah Gehringer said the restaurant, which is a few blocks west of the Las Vegas Strip and serves breakfast and lunch food, was bustling moments before the crash with an estimated 150 people inside.
One of the injured was a restaurant employee who was standing near the window when the car burst through.
Gehringer said the man was knocked into the kitchen by the force of the crash.
The vehicle was heading westbound on the busy thoroughfare when it crossed a median and veered into the front of the restaurant, officials said. Two other vehicles on the road were hit.
Later, the passenger sat on a curb in a blue T-shirt, dark trousers and sneakers and refused to speak with reporters.