Woodland police say a 75-year-old Vancouver man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing into another vehicle and then a restaurant.
Clark County Fire & Rescue and an ambulance responded 740 Goerig St. shortly before 9 p.m., according to emergency dispatch logs.
The crash happened a short distance away on the street, however.
Responders discovered a two vehicle-injury collision into a building on the 600 block of Goerig, according to a Facebook post by Woodland Police Department. The fire department published an identical post with a different video.
One of the videos shows a large Mercedes van drive up onto a sidewalk before hitting the driver’s side of a teal SUV that had just stopped at the corner of Goerig and Robins streets.
The van continues to move forward and crashes into the side of the restaurant Teriyaki Spice.
A second video shows a man on the sidewalk outside the restaurant examining a bulletin board before looking back and barely dodging the SUV, which careened into outside seating.
Teriyaki Spice owner Brian Luna Gonzalez said he and a cook spotted the van barrelling toward the building and tried to move out of its way from inside. The impact broke large windows near the kitchen and shook the entire structure.
“There were customers outside and they had ran back to their cars because they were so scared,” Gonzalez said.
The restaurant was closed due to the damage. All the food in the kitchen had to be thrown away, because glass from the windows may have fallen into it. Gonzalez said he’s unsure how much it will cost to repair everything, or when he’ll be able to reopen.
“We’re a small town, and we have regulars who come here every day because they like the food,” he said. “Our employees also aren’t working. It’s going to be difficult to get things back to normal.”
Woodland police and fire officials could not be reached to clarify which driver was charged. Each said in their posts that the Vancouver man may face charges of DUI and vehicular assault while the driver of the second vehicle involved was taken to a hospital with undisclosed injuries.
According to Gonzalez, officers arrested the driver of the Mercedes, and an ambulance took away the SUV driver. The latter driver appeared to be OK but was complaining about pain, he said.
