2 Severely Injured After Car Slams Into Garden Grove Restaurant

GARDEN GROVE (CBSLA.com) — An adult and child were severely injured Monday when a car slammed into a restaurant in Garden Grove.

Witnesses say a strip mall employee and a young girl were sitting at a table inside Pho 86 on Garden Grove Boulevard when a silver Mercedes careened into them shortly after 3 p.m.

A Garden Grove Fire Department spokesperson said three patients were transported to area hospitals in total. The diners are trauma patients. Police have identified them as a 10-year-old girl and a 37-year-old woman. Their injuries are said to be non life-threatening.

The 73-year-old driver of the Mercedes suffered minor injuries.

The driver of another vehicle said he was involved in a minor collision with the Mercedes shortly before its driver turned into the shopping center.

"We were coming down westbound and the lady came out of nowhere. We tried to avoid her and we just had a small fender bender, and instead of her breaking she accelerated and ran straight into the store," Richard Ozuna Jr. said.

The restaurant's owner, Francis Nguyen, said he was nearly hit before the Mercedes plowed through the glass facade.

"I jumped [out of the way]. [The car] hit my customers sitting in the restaurant," he said.

Pho 86 and its neighboring business have been red-tagged.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Garden Grove police say a similar incident involving a business formerly operating at the same location was also struck by a vehicle previously.