Restaurant faces close to $300,000 in damages after car drives into it

TOM BEAN, Texas (KXII) - " I couldn’t believe it. It looked like a bomb went off,” said Chris Obier, owner of Old Man Kettle Corn and BBQ.

He said his store had only been open 5 weeks when a car drove into it early Saturday morning.

“They had some police chase come out of Howe and they lost control and went from the back part of the building all the way through the front, taking everything with it,” Obier explained.

According to a news release, deputies received a call of a possible drunk driver heading east on FM 902 towards Tom Bean.

The caller explained that the vehicle was having trouble staying in a lane and was veering off of the road.

Deputies and the Tom Bean Police Department located the vehicle, but the driver refused to stop.

“What we was told was there was a 12 and a 14-year-old girl stole a car from a ball field up in Howe,” Obier said.

The suspect and passenger got out of the car and ran after driving into the building.

Officials estimate the damage to be close to $300,000.

“We don’t know what we’re going to get into. Once the insurance and the engineers and all whoever’s involved comes in and takes a look at the building, if they have to tear it down, we’re looking at five months,” Obier explained.

He said in the meantime, he will set up a food trailer beside the building to resume business.

" I just want to thank all of our customers that’s been coming in every day and seeing us, and we will be back,” Obier concluded.

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