KAPA‘A — Diners and employees got a late surprise Thursday night when a runaway truck crashed through the north wall of Kapa‘a’s Pizzetta Italian restaurant, sending cement flying and knocking chairs to the floor, but injuring no one. Cody Owens,
KAPA‘A — Diners and employees got a late surprise Thursday night when a runaway truck crashed through the north wall of Kapa‘a’s Pizzetta Italian restaurant, sending cement flying and knocking chairs to the floor, but injuring no one.
Cody Owens, a Pizzetta employee constructing the restaurant’s new nightclub, was working at around 10:30 p.m. as the last customers were finishing their meals and heard the sound of screeching brakes just before the hood of the vehicle hit the building, causing a “boom” sound, he said.
“Luckily the wall is reinforced or he’d have been in the bar,” Owens said. “It could have been much, much worse.”
Kaua‘i Police Department officials said yesterday that the driver of the red sport utility vehicle, a 16-year-old male, was detained on suspicion of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant and driving without a license, and was then released to the custody of a guardian.
KPD is continuing its investigation and other charges may be pending.
A sign posted yesterday on a window fronting Kuhio Highway informed passers-by that the restaurant would be closed for “renovations” and Owens said that the length of its closing would be determined by the company’s insurance provider.
A manager reached at Pizzetta’s Koloa location said that the owner of both establishments was off island and would be unavailable to comment on a timetable for reopening.
