Shocking moment a drunk driver almost FOUR TIMES over the limit crashes into a California pizza restaurant packed with customers and she then walks in a circle during a sobriety test
- Yvonne Tejada lost control of her car and crashed through the shop on Friday
- A 69-year-old man was run over in the frightening exchange and was injured
- A test confirmed she was nearly four times over the drinking limit, Police say
- Tejada was filmed failing a sobriety test by walking in a circle instead of a line
- She was apprehended in the parking lot and booked on drink-driving charges
This is the shocking moment a California woman nearly four-times over the drink-driving limit crashes into a restaurant.
During the busy lunchtime hours at Amerci Pizza and Pasta in Santa Clarita on Friday, Yvonne Tejada, 40, lost control of her vehicle and plowed through the shop’s front window.
Diners jolted up from their seats as the bonnet of the Tejada’s sedan piled into tables.
One 69-year-old man was hit by the car and rushed to hospital with moderate, but non-life threatening injuries, police say.
40-year-old Tejada lost control of her car at lunchtime on Friday, in Santa Clarita
One 69-year-old man (seen in gray) was struck by the car’s bonnet and suffered moderate injuries, police say
Tejada immediately slammed the car into reverse but it came to a halt in the parking lot out front
The car immediately backs out of the restaurant, but it’s believed it came to a stop in the parking lot out front after striking a stationary vehicle.
A Santa Clarita Sheriff was seen placing the suspect in handcuffs outside of the dilapidated shopfront.
Shortly before, Tejada, from Sylmar, was filmed failing a sobriety test by The Signal.
Police asked her to walking in a straight line, but instead, Tejada walks around in a circle and later breaks down in tears at her repeated failures to comply with the basic demand.
According to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, initial tests at the scene indicated the driver had a blood-alcohol level of 0.31 – nearly four times over the legal limit of 0.8 percent.
Tejada, from Sylmar, CA, was asked by police to walk in a straight line
After several attempts of walking in a circle and staggering, the suspect broke down in tears
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriffs documented the moment they took the Tejada into custody
Her car (above) is seen crumpled in out the front of the Ameci pizza store, having also collided with another vehicle
Joseph Maier, manager of the pizza store said he saw the impact strike from the corner of his eye.
‘What really got my attention was the sound. It kind of sounded like a bomb went off,’ he told KTLA 5.
Maier said it’s lucky the outcome of the crash wasn’t devastating, as the restaurant was packed with customers at one of its busiest times of the day.
‘It was packed, rush-hour. Somebody drives all the way through the window, into the wall, and hit a customer, unfortunately. It was pretty scary,’ Maier added.
The woman was booked on charges of a suspected DUI causing grievous bodily injury.
The entire glass pane of the pizza store was wiped out by the crash – but the restaurants manager said it could have been a lot worse