‘Total chaos’: 3 hurt as car crashes restaurant.

By Mike Morris and Christopher Seward
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thirty minutes later, and the scene at a popular north Fulton County restaurant could have been a lot more tragic after a car plowed through its front just before lunchtime, an eyewitness said Friday.

Kevin Hill, owner of Urban Edge Barbershop Salon, said he was servicing a customer next door when both of them looked out the window and saw a gold Lexus two-door coupe plow through the front of the Express Wings & More restaurant.

“I was kind of in shock,” Hill told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “I couldn’t believe what was happening.”

Efforts were being made to reach the restaurant’s management for comment.

Milton police Lt. Travis Parker told Channel 2 Action News that the driver of a car was pulling into a parking space in the Windward Way shopping plaza on Ga. 9 when she hit the gas instead of the brake, causing the car to jump the curb and go through the glass front of the restaurant.

The car went almost completely through the building, coming to rest against a counter at the back of the restaurant.

Police said three people were sent to the hospital, including the 47-year-old woman driver and a delivery person who was pinned between the car and the restaurant’s counter.

The delivery person suffered a severe leg wound, according to Channel 2. A restaurant employee was treated for minor injuries from flying debris. The injured were taken to North Fulton Hospital.

There were no customers inside the restaurant when the incident occurred, police said.

Hill said the accident, which police said occurred around 10:45 a.m., could have been much worse if it had happened around lunchtime because Express Wings & More attracts a large crowd. He said he also frequently has lunch at his next-door neighbor and had planned to do so Friday.

After he heard the “loud crashing and boom,” Hill said he, fellow barbers and several of his clients rushed next door.

“Debris was everywhere — broken glass, total chaos,” Hill said. The 32-year-old barbershop owner said he called 911 and police, ambulances and firefighters were there moments later.

A cleanup was already under way by Friday afternoon, and insurance adjusters were on the scene, Hill said. He said his barbershop also sustained damage, including a cracked wall.