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Witnesses Describe Horror Of Accident That Sent Pickup Flying Into McHenry Starbucks

McHENRY, Ill. (CBS) -- For the first time, we heard Monday from a teenager who rushed to help a trapped worker after a truck slammed into a Starbucks in McHenry.

CBS 2's Marissa Parra spoke with the teen and his youth group leader, who were inside at the time.

The Starbucks is new, but it obviously looks dramatically different than it did just months ago. It has been left boarded up to protect it from elements like snow, after a truck came crashing through and left a gaping hole in the building – shocking everyone inside.

Dramatic video showed the scene of the accident this past Thursday. A pickup truck was left halfway inside the building on Elm Street (Route 120) at Oak Drive in McHenry.

The pickup truck left the roadway east of the intersection, McHenry police said. The vehicle continued west and first hit a car that was in the drive-thru at the Starbucks at the northeast corner of the intersection, then into the vehicle itself, police said.

"We were in the building, if you go in through the main doors there, kind of off to your right," said student pastor Tim Meister.

In a Facebook post for his church group, Chapel Students McHenry, Meister invited everyone to "come grab your favorite drink and let's chat." He is sitting next to fellow group member Matt Marshall in a photo.

"He was kind of showing everybody a card trick," Meister said.

The time stamp is 4:15 p.m. Around 4:40 p.m., less than 30 minutes later, the pickup truck plowed through the building.

"I just see the wall come down and the counter kind of just push forward," Meister said.

Car parts and Starbucks debris went flying, and shock and chaos followed.

"A few of the workers just started, you know, screaming, and then someone had yelled out there's someone stuck under the debris, and that's when it became very serious," Marshall said.

They tried to get to the trapped barista, but they couldn't even see him under the debris.

Police said the accident was brought on by a medical emergency.

"A witness that kind of came in to help us. He said that he noticed that the driver was slumped over in the vehicle when it departed the road," Meister said.

Overall, five people were injured. The McHenry Fire Department, which had just done an extrication training last month, got the barista out in under 30 minutes.

"On social media I know a lot of people are joking about it, but no one really knew what happened on the inside – and it was pretty terrible," Marshall said.

Initially, crews had to shut off everything – water, gas, electric – for safety during the rescue. Crews have come back to turn the heat on so the pipes don't burst during the next part of the process – the rebuilding phase.

The 21-year-old barista is expected to be OK.

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