BELLEVUE, Wash. — A Bellevue restaurant owner is still in shock after a car plowed through his shop out of nowhere!
The car narrowly missed the customers who were eating inside Swish Swish on Wednesday night.
“Can a customer dining in a restaurant get hit by a car? That’s so insane,” said owner Brandon Ting.
Sudden and startling, is how Ting describes the terrifying moment a car rammed through his restaurant.
“She went in with really fast speed and the force was so strong when she destroyed the entire storefront,” he explained.
The driver reversed through the storefront, shattering glass and pinning the booths with customers into the wall.
“Just a little bit to the left or a little bit to the right, it would’ve been a very serious injury,” he said.
Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt.
Ting says just a few inches could’ve meant life or death for one of the customers.
“It was right next to her to the degree that her clothes got stuck behind the car,” he added,
“Which means if it was just a little bit to the left, that would be on her.”
Located at the center of the restaurant, the corner of a countertop also helped stop the worst from happening.
In the surveillance video, the corner hooked the back of the window frame and prevented it from moving further.
“She hit right between two tables of customers and that was the only angle that everybody was,” Ting said.
It’s an example of how quickly things can change, in just a matter of seconds.
Ting is grateful everyone got out safe, but now they’re focused on getting back to business.
“It’s very difficult, but we will try our best,” he said.
Bellevue Police tells KIRO 7 the driver of the car was not arrested because they believe it was an accident.
But for Ting, it’s still a devastating loss for the employees who depend on it as their main income.
Swish Swish is expected to reopen in 3 to 4 months.
If you’d like to help, click here for the GoFundMe.
©2023 Cox Media Group
