PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla — An SUV tore through the wall and ended up in the dining room of Port Charlotte's Sweet’s Diner Thursday night, and the front of the building was completely boarded up Friday afternoon.
I talked to the diner’s owner about how the crash happened, and what it means for his business.
Broken glass and rubble filled the dining room where customers used to enjoy the diner’s famous “pile up” dish. Scott Sweet owns the diner, and said he was shocked at the call he got Thursday night. Watch my report here...
“It was an officer calling me asking me if I’m the owner of Sweet’s Diner. I said yes. He said ‘You need to come down here, someone has run into your building.’ I’m like, are you kidding? He said ‘No, I’m not.’ So, I said I’m on my way,” said Sweet.
When Sweet arrived after 8:30 p.m., he saw a white SUV on a tow truck and his dining room in ruins. He spoke with the driver, a girl learning to drive with her mother. Thankfully, he said neither were injured.
Sweet said the girl told him she accidentally put the car in drive instead of reverse, sending it through the building. “As you can see, she completely got into the restaurant. Went through the three glass windows, went through the cedar bricks, drove the car right into the dining room. So, we’re pretty much shut down,” said Sweet.
Sweet said a lot of kitchen equipment is damaged, too. However, he said he’s not as concerned about damage, as he is about his employees and customers.
“I’m sad that my employees are going to miss paychecks and not make money. I’m sad that the customers that come here on a regular basis won’t be able to come here,” said Sweet.
Pamela Wait has worked at Sweet’s since last year, and said she’s devastated seeing it like this. “I’ve gotten to know all the customers. I love the people I work with. And it’s… it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Still, Sweet is trying to stay positive - he said he’s using the opportunity to renovate the restaurant, and he said he’s grateful to everyone who has offered support.
“Appreciate your help, appreciate your prayers, appreciate your support on Facebook - for everything. The donations - we’ll put them to work to keep our family going and help keep our staff being able to pay their bills and stuff like that. So thank you,” said Sweet.
Sweet hopes to re-open the doors to an updated restaurant in a few months.
