Van Plows Through Front Window of New York State Bar

Imagine sitting at one of your favorite bars as you have a few, when you're suddenly joined right next you by over two tons of pandemonium? And we're not talking about a very large unruly town drunk. In this case, a speeding van as it crashes right through the bar itself. How did this all happen?

WNYT says that Rookies Sports Bar & Grill is closed after a van crashed through the front window of the bar. Luckily, no one was injured during the accident, but questions remain how this all took place. Authorities say the van ran a red light then hit another vehicle before plowing through Rookies. There aren't too many other details as of present time, but police say no drugs of alcohol were involved. Perhaps in this case, just some careless driving.  Neither driver was seriously injured.

The driver of the van who ran the light was issued a citation.

Does This Happen A Lot?

While you don't expect a motor vehicle to come flying though your favorite restaurant or local business, it does happen more than you may think. A rather bizarre incident unfolded January 2022 when a woman crashed her vehicle through an empty building. Hudson Valley 12 says that he same woman had just gone through a drive-thru at a nearby McDonald's Tuesday evening before suddenly crashing her Ford Escape through the former HSBC bank.

Not too much is know, though a witness said the woman looked tense and angry as she went through the fast food drive-thru. When McDonald's employees asked her for her order, she reportedly did not respond. Instead, she drove across two lanes of traffic on nearby Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers and went sailing though the structure.

It Happens Close to Home

The Hudson Valley area has seen several accidents like this over the past few years.  In October 2020, a vehicle plowed through the front window of the Drug Mart Pharmacy outside of Monsey in Rockland County. Ramapo police say the crash happened at a shopping center on Airmont Road and Route 59. Another dramatic incident involving a vehicle flying through a structure unfolded back in January 2019. Officials say that a car on the road went airborne, after the driver took a snooze behind the wheel, and then crashed into Kirky's Deli & Pizza in Milton. And in May 2020, two separate accidents occurred in one weekend when vehicles smashed into businesses in both Rhinebeck and Wappingers Falls. Police say both vehicles had jumped the curb, and ended up hitting both businesses.