Car crashes through windows at pizzeria, wig shop

BLOOMINGTON (MCT) — A car struck and shattered plate-glass windows Thursday at Chicago Style Pizzeria and The Wig Salon, both at 1500 E. Empire St., but no one was injured.

A driver pushed the accelerator instead of the brake at 3:50 p.m., police said. The car jumped the curb and struck the two windows, which were about 5 feet square each.

“I just heard a crash. I thought something fell in the kitchen,” said pizzeria co-owner Ruth Taha. “Then it smelled like something was burning.”

She didn’t know what happened for several minutes, however, because blinds and the tall back of a booth concealed the damage. No patrons were seated in that area at the time.

This was the third time a vehicle came through a window at the restaurant, Taha said. A burglar rammed a pickup truck through a west-side window to gain entry around 1994, and another motorist in 2001 hit that same window, which subsequently was bricked up.

No tickets were issued because the accident occurred on private property, police said.