Photo by Maggie Nelson
If you drove by Roadside BBQ at 2nd and Geary this morning, you might have noticed a surplus of plywood reinforcing its front entry.
That’s because they were involved in a hit and run last night by a reckless driver who plowed through the neighborhood.
The SFWeekly Snitch reports that a 28 year old man was driving on Geary near 4th Avenue when he rear-ended another woman’s car. Instead of pulling over and exchanging insurance info like a gentleman, he sped off and proceeded to crash into the Roadside BBQ restaurant (hey buddy, they don’t have a drive thru window!).
As if that weren’t enough damage to inflict in one night, he then backed up and sped off, crashing his white, Ford Explorer into several parked cars. Eventually, he pulled over and he and his fellow passenger fled on foot. They made their way to Balboa Street and hopped on a MUNI bus.
Witnesses directed the police to the bus, and officers boarded at 3rd Avenue and detained both the driver and his passenger. The driver was arrested for driving under the influence, as well as hit and run and driving with a suspended license. The passenger was released.
Several readers also asked us about a helicopter that hovered over the inner Richmond from about 8:40pm until 9:15pm. Not sure whose helicopter it was or if it was covering the hit and run accident. We watched KTVU last night but there was no mention of the incident (it’s usually their chopper that comes to cover stories).
UPDATE: A commenter confirmed it was a Channel 7 (ABC) News helicopter and that footage aired on their 11pm newscast on Thursday night. We’ll keep an eye out for it.
Sarah B.
I took a picture this morning: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggie1000/7515319400/ Kind of scary!
”hey buddy, they don’t have a drive thru window!”
Nice one!
Thanks, Maggie. I updated the post with your pic!
Sarah B.
He may have been reckless, but he sure wasn’t wreckless by the end of this escapade. 😉
^ Ha, looks like I was a little reckless with my w’s this morning 😉 Corrected
Sarah B.
Good work on the cops for catching him right off the bat! They don’t get enough credit for the work they do.
The helicopter was from Ch 7 News. They aired the aerial footage last night at 11pm.
Yes, good work on the part of the police! I’m glad they apprehended him, and so quickly. Thanks for this post, we were wondering about the chopper/sirens/etc., last night. I hope no one was hurt in the incident.
@Fred – thanks for the confirm on Ch. 7 being the helicopter. No sight of the footage on their website, will keep an eye out.
Sarah B.
WOAH! That whole BUILDING is leaning!! CRAZY!
ABC7 produces the 9PM newscast on KOFY TV 20, Comcast cable channel 13: http://www.kofytv.com/whats-on/programs/
That’s a hard luck corner. One of Roadside’s predecessors, a Thai noodle shop was hit by a car right at the entrance too. They never reopened even though repairs had been made. There was a rumor that the rent had gone up substantially. The intersection has had its share of car accidents but none of the other buildings were hit in the 19 years I lived there.