Trumbull restaurant ‘business as usual’ after car crashed through wall
TRUMBULL — For those inside the 123 Pronto takeout restaurant Tuesday morning, their experience of a vehicle crashing into its exterior wall consisted of a loud noise, a cloud of dust and equipment lurching and rolling from the impact.
“My dad was in the back and I was in the front speaking with one of our sales reps,” said co-owner Claudia Tecla. “All of a sudden the two fridges that were on wheels against the wall slid out and there was a huge boom.”
At first, they didn’t realize what had happened, she said.
“It happened so fast. There was a cloud of smoke and we saw the car,” she said. “We were in shock.”
There were no reported injuries in the crash, and emergency responders cleared the scene within an hour, according to Long Hill Fire Chief Greg Sanfanandre. On Wednesday, he said the scene was normal.
“I drove by this morning and you wouldn’t know a car drove through it yesterday morning,” he said.
The identity of the driver has not been disclosed.
Sanfanandre said the incident happened at 9:44 a.m., before the business was open. After the fire crews left, Tecla said customers were able to enter the building with no problem.
Once crews had secured the building, Sanfanandre said a wrecker removed the vehicle.
“When we get there our main priority is making sure the structure isn’t compromised in any way,” he said. “If it is, we would shore the building, but that wasn’t necessary yesterday with the way the car hit.”
Sanfanandre said the building owner called workers to repair the damaged exterior and it was quickly patched. He said the town’s building department would determine if the structure needed any additional repairs, and Trumbull police are handling the investigation.