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ROSSVILLE — Three days after a car was driven through the front doors of her restaurant, Angela Graveline was still stunned.
“I just can’t wrap my head around what happened,” she said Wednesday.
A car was driven through the front doors of Rossville Family Restaurant, 715 S. Chicago St., Rossville at 9:52 a.m. Sunday, when most of the breakfast diners had left and when the brunch crowd was starting to come in, Graveline said.
An unidentified family, two adults and a child who were regular customers, got hurt while they were standing up front waiting to be seated, she said.
“They walked in, and the car drove in right after them,” she said.
A family member has since called to let her know they’ve been released from the hospital.
“Everybody is home now,” Graveline said.
She considers it a miracle that the outcome wasn’t even worse, she said.
The restaurant was still temporarily closed as of Wednesday. Clean-up has been underway, and Graveline said she’s taking it day by day in terms of when she can reopen.
“If I’m lucky, I might be able to open Saturday, but I won’t know until late tomorrow,” she said.
Graveline said the car was driven up to the restaurant Sunday in front of the front doors, in an area that isn’t a parking spot, and the driver was going to come in and eat.
“The car lined up perfectly with the front doors,” she said.
In addition to the doors and door frame, the damage extended to the tile floor, a counter and register, a pie case, a hostess stand and gumball machines, Graveline said.
“The glass rained everywhere,” she said. “The car came through at such a force it sent glass through the entire building.”
The car wound up wedged in the doorway, Graveline said.
“That’s what stopped him,” she said.
She and some employees later found glass particles in their hair, she said.
There will likely be four insurance companies involved sorting out the damages — her own, the building owner’s, the injured family’s and the driver’s — Graveline said.
Graveline has owned the restaurant for seven years, she said. It’s been operated under other owners and names for about 30 years, she said.
Anyone who would like to send a card to the injured family can send it in care of Rossville Family Restaurant, P.O. Box 203, Rossville, IL 60963. Graveline said the cards will be delivered to the family.
