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Car Crashes Into Park Ridge Restaurant

CHICAGO (STMW) -- A car turning into a parking space ended up driving through the window of a Park Ridge restaurant Saturday afternoon, Pioneer Local is reporting.

Shards of glass covered the floor and tables and chairs were pushed into a wall, but no injuries were reported in the crash which occurred at 1:20 p.m. at Siam Thai, 104 Euclid Ave.

Manager Wiyada Chantapaso was seated at the hostess counter when she said she saw the car, a silver Volkswagen, slowly pull into the diagonal parking spot directly in front of the restaurant's window. Then, suddenly, the car accelerated and crashed through the front window, pushing several tables and chairs up against the back wall.

"I just swept the floor there," Chantapaso said, pointing to what was now a pile of glass being swept up into the center of the dining room. A family had been eating at one of the tables the car struck not long before, and one customer remained in the restaurant at the time of the crash, but he was seated closer to the door and out of the vehicle's path, Chantapaso said.

Park Ridge Police Officer David Cacioppo declined to identify the driver of the 2008 Volkswagen or say what led up to the crash. He did say she was not injured, but was ticketed.

Chantapaso described the driver as an "older" woman and a regular customer of Siam Thai.

"She's gonna come eat here, she told the officer," Chantapaso said.

Chantapaso said he doesn't know how long Siam Thai will be closed.

"You don't expect an emergency vacation," Chantapaso said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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