'Everybody is a little shocked.' Yorktown Heights restaurant owner stunned after vehicle crashes into store

Surveillance video shows an employee sitting in a chair when a Jeep comes crashing through the restaurant.

News 12 Staff

Nov 11, 2022, 1:57 AM

Updated 752 days ago

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It was a scary moment Thursday when a vehicle came crashing through the storefront of a Yorktown Heights restaurant that was filled with customers.
Surveillance video from Pappous Greek Restaurant on Commercial Street shows the incident happening around 3 p.m. The video shows an employee sitting in a chair when a Jeep comes crashing through the restaurant.
Staff members say they think the driver of the Jeep accidentally hit drive instead of reverse to get out of her parking spot. The employee was not injured.
The owner says the driver is also fine.
"Everybody is a little shocked and a little scared," says owner Andrew Cunha. "The person was a little confused. I turned the car off for her, helped her get out of the car. We were just trying to climb over the rubble, and luckily nobody got hurt."
Customer Will Dionisio says he usually sits by the window, but he luckily was running late. He's happy that the restaurant isn't destroyed.
"They're a good bunch of people," says Dionisio. "The food is good, the window seats are really nice. But next time, I'm going to sit a little further in."
The owners say they're cleared to resume takeout service on Friday. If the building department inspects the place and deems It structurally safe, the owners would just need to fix the wall and then they'd open back up in a week.