By Michael Tsai
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
HONOLULU — Seven people, including a 3-year-old girl, were injured Saturday afternoon when a car twice crashed into the Paina Cafe restaurant in Koko Marina.
Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins said an elderly woman drove a car through a plate glass window at the Hawaii Kai restaurant at about 4 p.m.
In addition to the 3-year-old girl, the injured included three women, ages 20, 21 and 45; and two men, ages 18 and 46. All were transported to a local trauma center with what were described as “multiple serious injuries.” Another woman, age 21, sustained injuries but refused transport.
The driver was not injured.
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Witnesses said the driver had been involved in a minor fender-bender and had attempted to pull into a stall in front of the restaurant when she apparently lost control of the vehicle.
Ethan Hollandsworth, 20, of Hawaii Kai was inside the restaurant, about 10 feet away from the point of impact, when the car initially hopped the curb and hit the window.
“I just heard the pop of the glass and I looked up and saw the car,” Hollandsworth said.
Hollandsworth said the driver then reversed the car back over the walkway, across the parking aisle and into the front of a truck that was reverse-parked in a stall. She then sped forward again, this time barrelling through the entire dining area of the restaurant.
Police said the car pinned two or three people against a soda machine at the back of the dining area.
“She was definitely confused,” Hollandsworth said of the driver. “When she got out, she didn’t know where she was.”
Jenkins said firefighters checked the building for structural damage and found it still sound.
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