Crash leaves 3 injured, business closed

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- Three people were injured Wednesday morning after a

car crashed into a Mexican restaurant, shattering its glass windows,

toppling the salsa bar and crushing a soda machine, officials said.

Kelly Malery, 45, of Newport Beach suddenly stopped by the side of

Taco & Co. in the Back Bay Court shopping center on Bristol Street and

then accelerated her burgundy Infiniti Q45, slamming it into the

restaurant’s window about 11:15 a.m., said Newport Beach Police Sgt.

Steve Shulman.

Two customers who were eating at the restaurant were hit by the car.

One of them was Walter Horning, 41, of Costa Mesa, who suffered serious

injuries and was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, Shulman

said.

The driver of the car and another customer, 30-year-old Miguel

Rodriguez of Riverside, were taken to Hoag Hospital with minor injuries,

he added.

As of Wednesday evening, Malery remained at Hoag, but Horning was

treated and released, Shulman said.

An investigation is underway, but officials said they do not know what

caused the incident. Shulman said investigators believe a medical

condition could have caused Malery to lose control.

About a dozen people, including employees and customers, were shocked

by the sudden loud noise after the car crashed, store manager Luis

Sepulveda said.

“I was turned the other way when I heard the loud noise,” he said.

“When I turned to look at what was going on, I saw two men being hit by

the car on the chest. One of them was pretty badly hit and got thrown all

the way to the back of the restaurant. It was pretty scary.”

Sepulveda said the woman in the car “looked pretty normal.”

“I don’t know how it happened,” he said. “All I saw was she had pushed

through the glass and there was this car in our restaurant.”

The restaurant has suffered significant damage and will be closed for

at least two weeks, owner Francisco Hernandez said.

“Our salsa bar is totally gone,” he said, still looking at pieces of

broken glass and plastic salsa cups strewn on the floor of the

restaurant. “The soda bar is all smashed up. I’ve got to re-pipe

everything. It’s major work. I can’t even guess how much the damages”

amount to.

Hernandez is not the first store owner in that strip mall to go

through such an experience. On Aug. 13, a 39-year-old driver trying to

park next to Taco & Co. accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the

brake and crashed into Lina’s Bakery and Lite Wok Chinese restaurant.

Both businesses suffered damage, although not this extensive.

Raffi Mak, who works at the center, said he would feel safer if the

management put up bars or some facades to shield store windows from the

parking spots.

“I think I’d feel a little better then,” he said.

Other tenants who looked on with disbelief Wednesday said they think

the two incidents happening within a short time is a coincidence.

“This is a pretty safe place,” Mijanou Pham said. “We have incidents

here and there, but it’s OK for the most part.”