6 injured after car slams into Spring Hill restaurant

SPRING HILL, Fla. (FOX 13) - Six people are recovering in Hernando County after a driver slammed through the wall of a restaurant during lunch.

Shattered glass and a destroyed front wall is now boarded up at the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s in Spring Hill. For the people who were sitting on the other side, Tuesday was frightening.

“I happened to see something out of the corner of my eye, and I looked and I saw the car coming in,” said Kristine Boggs.

Her wrist was broken when the car, driven by a 65-year-old woman, plowed into the restaurant.

Boggs says she and her friend were sitting together. They had no time to react.

“I mean, I blinked and it was all the sudden, I was probably knocked about 8 feet across the floor,” Boggs said.

It was a chaotic scene. Witnesses say the powerful impact of the sedan into the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s sounded like a bomb.

“The booth flew all the way inside, hit me and the table that I was at,” said John Bost, who was injured.

A total of five customers, ages 65 to 86, along with the driver, were all rushed to the hospital. Many of them are counting their blessings tonight.

“The lady in the car was sitting… her hands just shaking, not moving, and then there were a couple of people laying on the floor in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, and there was one lady who was under the car,” described Tyler Banaszek of Spring Hill.

The woman under the car was Boggs’ friend, Nancy. Rescue officials say she was wedged under the booth and pinned.

“Some people were actually trying to move the car back because I was afraid she was under the car, I just didn’t know,” Boggs said.

Nancy was airlifted to the hospital. Her husband said she’s in critical condition in the intensive care unit, with multiple broken bones and other injuries.

“She’s got a black eye. Her hair’s all gone. The scalps opened up, it’s a mess,” Nancy’s husband, Dick Nelson said.

Investigators say the woman behind the wheel was driving on Spring Hill Drive when she lost control. They say she crossed two lanes of traffic, jumped a curb, and side-swiped two vehicles before flying through the front of the family-owned eatery.

“It’s the people that got injured that I worry about, and it’s the girls that witnessed it, and the customers in here that witnessed it, is what I worry about,” said Beef ‘O’ Brady’s owner Linda Wolfe. “[The restaurant] can be redone, it’s everyone else. My prayers go with the families.”

Wolfe says she is confident they will rebuild and reopen, possibly later this week.

It’s still unclear why the driver lost control and if she will face any charges. Florida Highway Patrol is investigating.