Seven people were injured when an SUV crashed through the front of a fast-food restaurant in the Loop at lunchtime Thursday, officials said.
Police spokeswoman Joann Taylor said that at about 12:15 p.m., a 2006 Volvo came speeding out of a parking garage across the street from the Popeye’s Famous Chicken at 149 N. Wabash Ave.
“As he did, he hit a pedestrian, knocking him to the pavement,” Taylor said.
The vehicle crossed Wabash, jumped the curb and plowed into the restaurant, hitting a man eating lunch inside, said David Muchowicz, 47, who works nearby and saw the accident.
No other vehicles were involved, police said, adding that it was unclear whether drugs, alcohol or a health problem played a role in the accident.
The driver, Sheldon Aberman, 36, was charged with negligent driving and striking a pedestrian, Taylor said.
Aberman was taken to Stroger Hospital, as were four others who were hurt, but their conditions were not available.
The pedestrian was taken to Northwestern Memorial, and another victim was in Mt. Sinai; no conditions were available for either, although no serious injuries were initially reported.
The north half of the restaurant’s glass storefront, which it shares with Gold Coast Dogs, was shattered, and the Volvo came to rest partially inside. Glass and bits of masonry were scattered across the sidewalk and the building’s interior, where some workers still remained behind the counter about a half-hour after the wreck, watching police and firefighters work. The Volvo’s front end was a tangle of bent framework and engine parts, and its airbag had deployed.
Muchowicz said that after the SUV crashed through the gate arm of the parking lot, it hit a man on the sidewalk, knocking his shoes off. After the vehicle came to a stop, those inside the restaurant were in shock, he said.
“You could see people trembling, shaking in there,” he said.
