Car Slams Into Miami Restaurant Just Before Dinner Rush
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami restaurant was left in rubble and water after a sudden, horrifying surprise for everyone there Saturday night.
A silver Mercedes Benz slammed entirely into the Patagonia Argentina Steakhouse just before the dinner rush.
Driver Sonia San Juan managed to get out and sat on a bench disoriented and shaken.
"When I was driving I lose the control completely and came directly through here," said San Juan.
It's still unclear why San Juan barreled into the restaurant, though she has a theory.
"The lady that was sitting there told me, 'I saw what happened. Your tire was broken.' The tire exploded and that's what made me lose control," explained a shocked but unhurt San Juan. "Because I didn't have problems with the brakes."
"The car went all the way inside. That was a wall and it broke through that wall and the other one, too," said an equally shocked owner Carlos Castiglia.
Castigla couldn't believe what happened and all the damage; crumbled walls, bursting water and gas pipes, debris everywhere.
Despite all the work that now needs to be done, Castiglia points out it really could have been so much worse, truly deadly.
"I'm still shaking. In shock," explained Castiglia. "This happened like around 5:30. Usually like around 7 or 8 we have 70, 80 people here and it would be like a big tragedy. Like devastating."
He said two people were hurt, though not seriously.
By late Saturday night crews were putting up plywood and cleaning up.
Castiglia hoped to have the working half of the restaurant up and running over the next few days while the damaged half gets repaired.
