Caught on Camera: Driver loses control, plows into Orangeburg restaurant

There have been no reports of serious injuries related to the incident.

Ben Nandy

Dec 6, 2023, 5:36 PM

Updated 385 days ago

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A popular Orangeburg breakfast spot is closed for repairs after a customer lost control of his SUV, driving ​into the restaurant and right up to the counter.
Surveillance video shared by the owners of Gino's Bagels on Route 303 shows the SUV plowing through the storefront, narrowly missing one customer and temporarily pinning another customer against the counter.
It happened at about 8:45 a.m. Wednesday.
Five customers and about five staff were in the shop at the time.
As he was taking yet another bag of broken glass and bricks to the dumpster out back, employee Hector Martinez said he was quite relieved the customers, staff and the driver all seemed to emerge from the wreck without major injuries.
"I was working in the kitchen when it happened," Martinez recounted. "The big SUV pushed right through, pushing against the counter and holding the customers between the counter and the truck."
The driver of the SUV is a regular customer, Martinez said, and may have not realized the SUV was in drive when he accelerated.
In the video, the driver appears to facepalm immediately following the crash.
Throughout the morning, other loyal customers kept passing by the bagel shop to check on the staff.
John Ferriello said he found it unusual when staff were not answering the phone earlier in the morning.
"I said, 'Let me take a ride over,'" he said. "I thought maybe the phones were out. This is horrible. These are a great bunch of guys."
The staff, though, were all smiles once they got over the initial shock and cleared most of the debris.
The owners said they are fully insured and plan to reopen the store in about a week.
While employees are fairly sure of the circumstances around the crash, Orangetown Police have not yet responded to media inquiries about the cause and injuries.