BY DAN HILDEBRAN
An SUV crashed into the side of Tony’s Italian Restaurant in Starke late Tuesday morning, startling around 10 customers and a kitchen crew of six.
Owner Tony Veliz said he was in the building around 11 a.m. when he heard the impact of the crash.
“We just heard a big noise,” he recalled. “It opened a big hole inside.”
Veliz said that after seeing the damage to the interior of his restaurant, he and some customers rushed outside to check on the condition of the car’s occupants.
Veliz added that food vendors were seated at a table near the part of the wall impacted.
Col. Brad Smith of the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office said no occupants of the building were injured, and the group seated at the table near the crash signed waivers for medical evaluations.
Smith added that the driver of the vehicle said her foot slipped off the brake pedal as she was attempting to park.
He said the driver complained of head and neck pain, and airbags deployed during impact.
The colonel added that a male occupant of the SUV lost consciousness three times after the collision and was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
At the time of this report, the driver was still being evaluated on scene.
Within a half hour of the incident, Veliz’s crew was back at work, and diners had resumed their lunches.
