‘Like an angel with me’: Couple escapes serious injury after car crashes into restaurant
By Ken MacLeod
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LAWRENCE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Lynn man will be summonsed to court for negligent operation of a motor vehicle after crashing into a crowded restaurant in Lawrence early Monday morning. Surveillance video showed the car spin out and crash into the front of the Terra Luna Cafe just after midnight.
Three customers were hospitalized, but they have since been released.
Yessenia Gentry and her husband Elvys Blanco were sitting at a table by a window that is now boarded up.
“I heard like a boom for a second,” said Elvys who suffered a concussion and neck sprain.
“I think there was explosion and I see all the glass coming in,” said Yessenia, who now has a broken arm.
It was the couple’s first visit to the cafe since the beginning of the pandemic.
The cafe’s surveillance camera captured the white BMW spinning off Essex Street and slamming into the window, knocking patrons to the floor and showering them with glass and debris.
“I said what happened?” Yessenia said. “We did not see any car coming in.”
There were moments of confusion and panic as staffers tended to the three injured customers. A police officer who witnessed the crash from just down the street scrambled in to help.
“That was terrible. Terrible,” Elvys said. “I never have something like that in my life.”
Police say the driver, 26-year-old Franklin Victoria of Lynn, admitted to having two drinks before the crash, but passed a field sobriety test. He told police his new BMW had more power than he thought. Victoria has been cited for negligent operation.
The people in the restaurant feel lucky they weren’t hurt worse or even killed.
“I feel like an angel with me,” Elvys said.
“I look at life a different way,” Yessenia said. “I think God giving another opportunity to live.”
In a statement, the restaurant said, “We appreciate everybody’s concerns. All staff is safe and we are all praying for our customers’ fast recovery.”
The owner hopes to reopen the restaurant by Tuesday night.
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