Driver leaves Edmonds restaurant in shambles

EDMONDS – Skippers Restaurant in downtown Edmonds was closed indefinitely Saturday after an 88-year-old man lost control of his Cadillac and slammed into the building.

The driver was taken to Stevens Hospital for a head injury; his condition was not available Saturday night. A man who was in the restaurant at the time of the crash suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene by medics, Edmonds police said.

The building, at 102 Main St., was evacuated and an engineer from the city was called to determine if there was any threat of it collapsing. Officials said the building is probably not safe for occupancy. It will be looked at more closely in the next couple of days to determine the extent of the damage, police said.

According to statements collected by police, alcohol and speed may have been factors in the collision, Edmonds police Sgt. Jeff Jones said.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the driver, an Edmonds resident, left a business at Third Avenue and Main Street in Edmonds and drove westbound on Main Street, where he lost control and left the road, crashing into the Skippers Restaurant about 3:15 p.m., Jones said.

Witnesses said the car’s tires were squealing and the car was speeding before it went off the road and hit the restaurant, he added.

The wreck occurred during the Edmonds Waterfront Festival. Though the festival was about a half-mile from the restaurant, officials said it was lucky no pedestrians were injured.

Main Street “wasn’t like Westlake in Seattle, but it wasn’t like a ghost town, either,” said Dennis Oftedahl, acting fire battalion chief, adding that the driver struck a planter and some shrubs before going through the building.

“Two tables inside where the car went in, those were empty, and if it was closer to dinner or lunch and those tables had been occupied, they wouldn’t have seen it coming,” Oftedahl said.

Assistant city editor Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3097 or goffredo@heraldnet.com.