Saturday, January 14, 2006

Car crashes into restaurant

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas A woman told police she blacked out before driving her car into a Chinese restaurant in Los Lunas Wednesday afternoon, hitting another woman walking into the business.

Los Lunas Police Officer Michael Sandoval said 52-year-old Dorothy Lovato of Los Lunas said she had just left the China Super Buffet in the Valencia Y Shopping Center when the accident occurred. The officer said Lovato said she had blacked out for some reason prior to driving her 2001 Honda Accord over a concrete parking curb and into the front of the restaurant.

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"She did hit one person who was walking into the restaurant," Sandoval said. "The woman she hit suffered injuries including a broken leg. The woman who was driving didn't appear to have been hurt, but was transported to the hospital for observation."

Margaret Garcia of Los Lunas said she saw the car drive into the restaurant and right into her sister, 53-year-old Lillian Romero of Tomé. Garcia said she was sitting in her car with her mother when Romero came outside to invite them in for lunch.

"She asked us to come in and eat with her, but we couldn't," Garcia said. "We said we would make plans for another day. She (Romero) was walking away and into the restaurant and then, all of a sudden, I saw the black car run into her and into the building. My sister didn't see it coming — it hit her from behind."

According to Garcia, Romero went to Presbyterian Hospital with a broken leg. She said her sister was in pain but seemed to be all right other than the injury to her leg.

"I was more worried about my mom," Garcia said. "We just lost our father last November and now she had to see this."

Jessica Hale of Las Cruces had just finished lunch in the China Super Buffet when she said she heard what she first believed was an explosion. Hale, who was having lunch with a business associate, said she didn't actually see the car, but the noise was extremely loud.

"My back was to the door when, all of a sudden, I heard three crashes," Hale said. "At first, I thought they were three explosions because of all the terrorism in the world. But then I thought to myself, 'Why would anyone want to hit this small restaurant in Los Lunas?'"

Hale said when she realized that a car crashed into the restaurant she and other patrons were in shock. She said it took several minutes for her hands to stop shaking.

"I saw a woman lying by the car and saw that she had probably broken her leg," Hale said. "Her sister ran in and she was talking to her. She was awake and she looked like she was, thankfully, going to be OK."

Hale said while she doesn't ever want to go through anything like that again, she is glad that no one was seriously hurt. She said the owners of the restaurant gave everyone their meals for free.

Sandoval described the damage to the restaurant as significant and said the car took out the entire front of the business and hit a support beam in the middle of the building.

No charges have been filed, said the officer. The investigation into the accident is still ongoing.

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