Man suspected of DUI among 3 hurt after truck slams into 2 Costa Mesa restaurants
Three people were injured Saturday — including a pregnant woman and a driver who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving — after a truck crashed through the front of one restaurant and into the kitchen of another in Costa Mesa.
Preliminary investigation suggests the truck ran a red light and sideswiped another vehicle along the 2900 block of Bristol Street at about 5:15 p.m., Costa Mesa police spokeswoman Roxi Fyad said. It then went over a curb and into a business lot.
It crashed through the front of Bred’s Nashville Hot Chicken and punched through a wall, leaving part of its front end in the prep area of Seabirds Kitchen, according to Instagram posts by the vegan restaurant. They also shared photos of a large metal fridge that had been knocked over and one of their employees being treated by firefighters.
Several tables and about half of the dining space in Bred’s were damaged in the crash, an employee working on Monday said. They were able to reopen after initial repairs were made on Sunday, but Seabird’s Kitchen remained temporarily closed.
A store manager who was working in Seabirds Kitchen suffered a broken leg, according to the restaurant’s post. She was scheduled to go on maternity leave the following day.
A passenger in the car that was sideswiped suffered minor injuries, as did the truck’s driver, Fyad said.
No patrons were in Bred’s at the time, Fyad said. The truck appeared to careen into the business without stopping in surveillance footage, the owner of Bred’s, Laura Kearse, 45, said during a brief interview Monday. A thick cloud of dust and shattered glass slowly settled in the dining room in its wake.
“Saturdays are busy for us,” Kearse said. “He just missed the lunch rush and was ahead of the dinner rush. If it had been an hour later, this would have been a different story.”
One of her employees witnessed the collision and said the truck almost struck a family that was walking down the street before slamming into the restaurant, Kearse said. Tire marks were still visible Monday where it struck the curb, and gouge marks were left in the floor of Bred’s dining room, apparently by the rear wheels of the vehicle as they spun in place.
Officers who responded to the scene noticed the smell of alcohol on the driver who allegedly ran a red light, Fyad said. The driver, who was identified as Juan Bustamante, 53, of Santa Ana was arrested on suspicion of DUI.
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