There’s no use in crying over spilled wine or even a giant hole in the side of a building. The Chi-Chi’s Pizza on Sierra Highway that was hit in a traffic collision Monday afternoon was set to resume normal business hours starting Wednesday after no serious damage to the water and gas line were reported, according to Ivan Alvarez, a Chi-Chi’s Pizza manager.
Alvarez was the manager working at the time of the incident. He said he was in his office when he was told by a cook that he saw a car coming toward them.
“He had yelled out that there was a car coming. So I looked at the camera, and that’s when I saw that there was a truck coming straight at us, and I got up, but as soon as I got up, that’s when I heard the hit,” said Alvarez.
At approximately 3:10 p.m. California Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to a traffic collision near the Via Princessa off-ramp from State Route 14, according to Officer Josh Greengard, spokesman for the CHP Newhall-area station.
In an email, Greengard wrote that when officers arrived they located a big rig loaded with bags of concrete that had collided with Chi-Chi’s Pizza. Through investigation it was determined the big rig failed to stop for the red traffic signal. The driver attempted to take evasive action and went through the intersection and collided with a gray Toyota Prius and a blue Hyundai Elantra before crashing into the restaurant.
Investigating officers are looking into a mechanical failure as a possible factor in the collision.
Alvarez said he felt the restaurant shake and then his first reaction was to check the back of the kitchen where the truck hit and see if anyone had gotten hurt. Luckily, there were no employees in the affected area, so none of them were reported hurt.
He said after he knew the employees weren’t hurt, he immediately called 911 to get help for the drivers who were hit by the truck and the truck driver.
“We were concerned about them (the drivers of the Prius and Elantra) as well,” said Alvarez. “I didn’t have a chance to go see them, but because everybody was already around them.”
Alvarez said he knew the drivers who were hit would be getting help so he went to go check on the truck driver and assess the damage to the outside of the restaurant. He said he noticed the truck driver was a young man and the only person in the truck. By the time he got to the driver, he was on the ground.
Injuries were reportedly sustained by one of the sedan drivers and the big rig driver and both of them were transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, according to Greengard.
At the time the restaurant was hit, they were serving about seven tables and more people were still walking in.
“At the same time the car accident happened, I guess a lot of them didn’t notice there was a truck in the restaurant. People were still trying to come in to dine in,” said Alvarez.
For safety precautions, the restaurant had to shut down and ask people to leave while they assessed if there was damage to the water or gas line.
“They weren’t hit, luckily. Everything is a certain (number of) feet away from it, but most of our dry storage from the back was demolished,” said Alvarez.
Most of the products lost were wine bottles but many products were able to be salvaged.
At this time, Chi-Chi’s Pizza does not have a time frame on when the hole in the restaurant will be repaired but they were advised by city of Santa Clarita building and safety officials that “it was fine to resume business” as long as the power remained shut off in that portion of the building and access to that section is limited.
Alvarez said he hopes this doesn’t deter people from coming into the restaurant.
“We always welcome everybody here in the community,” said Alvarez.
