Minivan slams into Applebee's restaurant
BUTLER TWP — Diners inside the Applebee's at Butler Crossing Tuesday afternoon didn't realize, at first, that a minivan hit the building.
“We heard a thump, but the building didn't shake,” said Robin Collins of Butler, who was grabbing lunch with her daughter, Heather Cranmer, when the incident happened. “We thought someone dropped a tray.”
At 12:30 p.m., a silver Toyota minivan was pulling into a handicapped parking space when the vehicle jumped the sidewalk and hit the northwestern wall of the restaurant at 200 Butler Crossing.
The crash occurred when the male driver of the van was attempting to park and inadvertently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, said Butler Township Police Lt. Matthew Pearson.
From the outside, the building appears untouched except for some displaced mulch. However, the stone exterior had some minor cracks in the mortar, according to Butler Township Fire Marshal Christopher Switala.
Inside the restaurant, the damage was more noticeable.
John Whittington, an assistant manager at Applebee's, said there was a little structural damage, pointing to where the wall bowed-in slightly and a baseboard and a chair-rail were separating from the wall by about an inch.
“It (the van) hit the wall and did a little bit of inside structure damage. No windows were broken, or electricity, or appliances,” Whittington said. “Luckily no one was sitting at the booths when it happened.”
Switala, who was called by police to test the structural integrity of the building, said there was no damage to utilities and the damage to the structure was minimal.
Whittington said the driver's insurance information was collected and the wall should be fixed in a few days.
The van showed minor damage, with green paint scraped a few inches along the driver's side front-quarter panel from a handicap parking pole.
According to police, the incident is still under investigation. It remained unclear if any charges would be filed.
