Driver smashes through outdoor dining area and into Jackson Heights restaurant

A 2019 Toyota SUV crashed through and outdoor seating area and into a Jackson Heights restaurant Sunday. Screenshot via video courtesy of walt_ua/Reddit

By David Brand

At least one person was removed by stretcher after a driver crashed his SUV through an outdoor seating area and into a Jackson Heights restaurant Sunday night.

Videos posted on the Citizen app and Reddit show the entire white 2019 Toyota Highlander stuck inside 12 Corazones Restaurant and Bar, an Ecuadorian eatery on Roosevelt Avenue near 86th Street. The restaurant was crowded with patrons and employees when the driver crashed into the building at about 9:20 p.m., an NYPD spokesperson said.

The driver, a 63-year-old man, was arrested and given a breathalyzer test for DWI but blew a 0.0, the spokesperson added. The driver was given a summons and released.

EMS took five people to Elmhurst Hospital for non-life threatening injuries, according to the NYPD. ABC News reported one person was in critical condition, based on information from the FDNY.

Roosevelt Avenue, a bustling commercial corridor beneath the No. 7 train tracks that marks the border between Jackson Heights and Elmhurst, is one of Queens’ most dangerous streets.

Calls to the restaurant went unanswered Monday.