The driver of a silver BMW careened through a Vietnamese restaurant in a southeast Denver strip mall this evening, an apparent reaction to a brawl going on inside the car.
Witnesses described a bizarrely cinematic scene where a handful of diners inside Pho 7 scattered as the car crashed into the restaurant, trapping at least one diner against the wall.
“We look up and see this guy driving through the restaurant,” said Carlos Stokes, 17, pointing at the now-shattered table where he had been eating with friends.
“He pinned my friend up against the wall with his car,” said Stokes, a Chaparral High School student, standing outside the ruins of a restaurant full of shattered glass and broken chairs and tables.
Stokes, one of only about a half dozen diners inside at the time, said his friend was taken to the hospital with severe cuts and possibly a fractured leg.
Police Saturday hadn’t released the name of the driver, who drove off and was taken into custody a few blocks away after police subdued him with a Taser, said Sonny Jackson, a spokesman for the Denver Police Department.
The man been driving erratically in the parking lot outside the restaurant and was confronted by a bystander, police and witnesses said.
When the bystander jumped partially through the driver’s side window and began hitting the man, the driver pressed the accelerator and drove through the restaurant’s glass front, with the bystander still hanging out the window.
At least three people were injured, including two diners and the bystander, Jackson said. None of the injuries appeared life threatening.
Police pursued the car for several blocks until its engine died and the driver, who Jackson said became belligerent, was subdued by officers.
Police said this evening that they had yet to confirm whether drugs or alcohol were involved, although several witnesses said the driver appeared intoxicated.
Michael Riley: 303-954-1614 or mriley@denverpost.com
