Santa Fe restaurant wrecked
Three injured when SUV crashes into front window of Jambo Café
SANTA FE — Crunching metal and breaking glass shook up a local shopping center during the Thursday lunch hour when an elderly woman crashed her car into a popular restaurant and caused several injuries, sending two people to the hospital with broken legs and another with a back injury.
The Santa Fe Police Department and a witness said an 81-year-old woman hit a pillar in front of Jambo Café, then rapidly backed her Subaru Forester into two parked cars, then shifted and “surged ahead” 25 feet into the restaurant at the College Plaza Shopping Center near Cerrillos Road and St. Michael’s Drive.
The accident happened around noon, and SFPD
spokesman Greg Gurule said “several” of the 30 people inside the cafe had minor injuries. Three people were taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, and the driver was also transported there for observation. Police are still investigating the incident, but Gurule said there doesn’t appear to be any malice behind the crash.
“It sounds like more of an accident than anything else,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like it was on purpose, but, of course, we’ll investigate and figure out what happened here.”
Margaret Gutierrez, who works at the Cato clothing store next to Jambo, said she was standing outside when she saw the car crash into the support column.
“All of a sudden, she gives it gas and she hits that pole part of the building there, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ ” Gutierrez said. “She kept going and going and giving it gas, and then all of a sudden she puts it in reverse. She must have had it in reverse and had the gas pedal all the way down.
“We’re screaming at her outside, and then she puts it in drive.”
Gutierrez, who was still shaken up after witnessing the incident, said the woman then sped forward and broke through the building’s front window. She said someone then opened the car door and took the keys out of the ignition. “People didn’t know what she was capable of doing,” she said.
Jambo owner Ahmed Obo said he was in Madrid, N.M., without cellphone service at the time but came over as soon as he heard about the incident. He said he immediately checked to see if his staff was OK and said a host who normally stands near the front window wasn’t there at the time.
“I can see that some of them are in tears,” Obo told the Journal. “I’m sure they are shocked.”
Obo was inspecting the damage to his business, which is expected to open an Albuquerque location later this spring, shortly after the Forester was towed away around 1:15 p.m.
“We’re going to do our best to get back to work next week, but again, I don’t know how long it will take,” he said.
Obo said he was sorry for the customers who got hurt and wishes them a speedy recovery, and he was fairly optimistic even while he was still taking in what had happened.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Obo said. “I don’t know the reason behind this, but I’m faithful that everything’s going to be OK.”