Popular restaurant reopens after eerie crash - NBC12.com - Richmond, VA News

A popular Ashland restaurant is back in business after a car crashed into the dining area last July.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, but why no one was hurt is the amazing part of the story.

The sign says, "Yes we are open," but fortunately Ashland Breakfast and Lunch was closed the day an elderly woman drove into the front of the building. Police say a woman accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and plowed into the restaurant.

There is hardly any sign of the damage leftover from this terrible crash. Now just a tire mark in the carpet remains. The Gutierrez family runs the restaurant. They say they couldn't believe it when they heard about what happened.

"Just one of those things you hear about, see on TV," Doug Gutierrez said. "You never think it'd happen to you and you're just like, 'wow, serious?' I couldn't believe it."

Friday is usually one of their busiest mornings. But by a stroke of luck, that Friday they were out of town for their son's graduation.

"Being a small business, it's always tough to close," he said. "But it's one of those things that we're a family and it's one of those things we had to do. Thank God we did."

They have regular customers that come every Friday and sit in the same seats. They say it's haunting to think about who might have been hurt had they been open that day.

"It would have been really ugly and scary," said Yenny Gutierrez, Doug's wife. "Just thank God we were in Connecticut."

Now a printout of a stop sign is hanging on the front window. The Gutierrez's joke that the drive-thru is now closed.

The pinging of the cash register is a sound they haven't heard in a while. Now they hope to return to business as usual and put this eerie accident behind them.

"Somebody was definitely looking out for us," Yenny said. "That's the way I kind of look at it."

The Guterriez Family says the woman that drove into the building was actually a regular customer. They say they hope that she'll come back.

The Gutierrez's say they have spoken to the woman behind the wheel since the crash. Police did not file any charges against her. 

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