One injured when vehicle crashed through Alexandria restaurant

ALEXANDRIA — One person was injured Saturday afternoon when a car crashed through the wall of Joe’s Café in Alexandria.

According to Hanson County Sheriff Randy Bartlett, the driver of the vehicle was attempting to park when they mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the vehicle, a Pontiac Grand Prix, to crash through the front wall of the restaurant.

A customer inside was injured when the vehicle came crashing through the wall and was taken from the scene by ambulance to Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell. The extent of the person’s injuries is unknown at this time, Bartlett said.

The identities of the driver and the injured person were not immediately available.

No citations will be issued for the crash, Bartlett said on Sunday.

Lori Lanners was working at the restaurant when the crash occurred. Lanners said the person injured in the crash was the only customer in the restaurant at the time and had just been served when the car came through the wall.

“We just wanted to make sure everybody was OK,” she said of the staff’s reaction to the crash.

The hole smashed into the side of the restaurant was quickly patched with two sheets of wood and the restaurant remained open for business Saturday evening.

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