Simone WilsonUpdated at the bottom: The girl who was dragged into the restaurant was a pregnant teenager.
Originally posted February 21 at 7 p.m.
A maroon Acura just plowed through the two front doors of Pizza Buona in Echo Park, a well-loved pizzeria located on Sunset Boulevard at a busy intersection with Alvarado.
The car barreled into the restaurant around 5 p.m., right before the most amazing hot-pink sunset since last month's most amazing hot-pink sunset. And it got pretty far in there, judging by witness photos on Twitter. Here we have some before and after shots of poor Pizza Buona:
“A car smashed through the front of Pizza Buono at the corner of Sunset and Alvarado.”; Credit: @Pollenator420 via Twitter
The Los Angeles Fire Department tells City News Service that at least one person was taken to a hospital after being injured in the crash.
And for some reason, cops/firefighters weren't able to back the Acura out of the pizza joint immediately. Hence the tow truck on scene.
Update: CBS LA reports that the person taken to the hospital following the crash was 19-year-old Raquel Tellez, currently pregnant with her unborn child.
The good news is that both she and the baby will live: “I broke my pinky toes, I have bruises and scratches,” she tells the station. “But the baby is 100 percent fine.”
The driver of the wayward Acura, who was reportedly behind the wheel that day with a suspended license and no proof of insurance, slammed into Tellez on the sidewalk before dragging her into Pizza Buona.
“I held on as the car took me inside,” she says. “I was yelling, 'No, no, no!' I didn't want to let go.” Soon after, Pizza Buona owner Israel Palacios says he saw her screaming, bleeding and vomiting beneath the car.
Kind of the last thing one expects while strolling past a pizzeria on Sunset Boulevard.
[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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