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Car crashed into Czech Stop in Texas. We ask again: Why does this keep happening?

Three other crashes have happened recently in Dallas and Forney.

On March 6, 2023, an SUV drove into the Czech Stop, an iconic kolache shop for roadtrippers passing through West, Texas, on Interstate 35.

West Police Chief Chris White confirmed to The Dallas Morning News that no one was hurt, including the driver. No arrests were made.

The iconic shop is about 75 miles south of Dallas. It’s known for its fluffy fruit kolaches, pecan rolls, brownies and cookies.

After a vehicle crashed into Czech Stop kolache bakery in West, Texas, on March 6, 2023, the...
After a vehicle crashed into Czech Stop kolache bakery in West, Texas, on March 6, 2023, the business reopened the next day at 5 a.m. (Fernando De la Rosa)

The SUV barreled through a brick wall and crunched into Czech Stop’s glass windows. When it stopped, the vehicle was fully inside the bakery.

Police believe the driver hit the gas instead of the brake while pulling in, White said.

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“All indications were that it was an accident,” White said. It was treated as a vehicular crash on private property.

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The business reopened at 5 a.m. March 7, 2023, the morning after the crash, but part of the bakery is closed. The shattered windows are already boarded up.

Cars crashed into two restaurants in Dallas in January 2023, leading us to wonder if this is a pattern. Here are details on other incidents.

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2 recent car-in-restaurant incidents

On Jan. 27, 33-year-old Roderick Green veered off the road and hit the patio wall at Mayer’s Garden on Henderson Avenue, then fled, according to a Dallas Morning News story. The crash appears to be part of a string of incidents: Green also is accused of tackling a police officer in Uptown Dallas and attempting to enter homes in the same neighborhood. Green was taken to the hospital and then to Dallas County jail.

Bar owner Austin Rodgers guesses that he’ll pay at least $10,000 to fix the wall, and he doesn’t yet know the price of the electrical work to fix the fans and patio misters that were damaged in the crash.

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Two people on the patio were not injured, though they were “very shaken up,” Rodgers says. The restaurant remained open after the incident.

A group of Rodgers’ fast-moving friends built a temporary cinder block wall by the next morning, and Mayer’s Garden continued to operate at regular business hours.

Despite the "now open" sign, Speranza Ristorante Italiano was temporarily closed following a...
Despite the "now open" sign, Speranza Ristorante Italiano was temporarily closed following a crash on Jan. 26, 2023. At least five people were injured when a woman drive her SUV into the Far North Dallas restaurant. The woman driving was intoxicated, police say, and was taken to Dallas County jail.(NBCDFW video)

One day prior on Jan. 26, police say at least five people were injured when 64-year-old Jan Bennett crashed her SUV into Speranza Ristorante Italiano at Preston and Frankford roads in Far North Dallas. The video — please take care if watching; it could be upsetting — shows the car barreling into the dining room, hitting customers. The car reversed out of the restaurant quickly.

Bennett was intoxicated, police say, and was taken to Dallas County jail. It’s an ongoing investigation.

“It was a terrifying moment for us all,” says a post on Speranza’s Facebook page. “We are thankful children were not involved, and we wish a quick recovery to our injured friends. Please know you are all in our hearts and prayers.”

The restaurant owners started a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $10,000. The restaurant reopened in February 2023.

Are vehicular crashes at Dallas restaurants on the rise?

Dallas Police spokesperson Brian Martinez couldn’t say whether drivers are crashing into restaurants more often in the past few years. The department doesn’t keep records of restaurant crashes, specifically, though they do count crashes into buildings — and we’ve asked for those records.

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Martinez says reports have shown a mix of reasons for the collisions, including driving while under the influence of alcohol, driver error, and medical conditions that could cause a driver to lose control.

While some are evening or early-morning incidents, plenty of others in Dallas have happened during daylight hours.

In the case of the Czech Stop crash, West Police Chief White said the driver was not arrested because it was “just an accident.”

This Dodge car was driven through the wall of S&D Oyster Company in Uptown Dallas in the...
This Dodge car was driven through the wall of S&D Oyster Company in Uptown Dallas in the early-morning hours of July 17, 2021.(Courtesy of S&D Oyster Company)

In recent years, we’ve seen other examples of drivers crashing into Dallas-area restaurants. Here’s a chronological look at some of them:

In November 2020, two Dallas eateries had unrelated incidents on the same day. An SUV drove through a brick wall at S&D Oyster Company in Uptown just after 2 a.m. No one was injured, and the restaurant was closed at the time.

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About 12 hours later, the owner of Haute Sweets Patisserie near Dallas’ Lake Highlands was injured when an SUV lurched from a parking space, through a wall and into the bakery’s kitchen. Two other employees were also hurt.

S&D Oyster Co. was the victim of another car crash less than a year later, in July 2021. Both crashes occurred on the same side of the building, an aging brick wall with a parking lot for neighboring businesses.

After a vehicle crashed into South Dallas' Blackjack Pizza in September 2022, the restaurant...
After a vehicle crashed into South Dallas' Blackjack Pizza in September 2022, the restaurant was full of debris.(Cheryl Smith/Texas Metro News)

Owner Herb Story said after the first crash that “nothing shocks me anymore.”

After the second incident: “Unbelievable.”

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Retro bar Thunderbird Station in Deep Ellum had patio damage in November 2021, after a Subaru drove through a barrier filled with plants. No one was hurt.

Cupcake shop Gigi’s closed in December 2021 after a driver plowed forward instead of placing the car in reverse one afternoon. The shop was originally marked “temporarily closed,” but it never reopened.

Blackjack Pizza in South Dallas closed in September 2022 after a teenage driver stole a car and crashed it into the restaurant. Several people were injured, The News reported. Blackjack was closed for several months but is back open now.

In March 2023, a vehicle crashed into Tokyo Harbor, a sushi restaurant in Forney. Police say the driver accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake and caused “multiple injuries.”

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Original story published Jan. 31, 2023 and updated March 7, 2023 and March 14, 2023.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.