Car crashes into Glen Innes cafe, second time a motorist has mistakenly hit the accelerator

A cafe owner has opened up about the unsettling moment a car smashed through his business moments after closing their doors.

The crash happened about 3pm yesterday at Columbus Glen Innes, when a woman mistook her car accelerator for the brake and smashed through the store’s glass doors.

It’s not the first time the cafe has been struck by a car.

In 2019, just six months after taking over the store, Cafe co-owner Sudhakar Bacharam experienced the same situation, where a customer accidentally pushed the accelerator instead of the brake.

Bacharam was at the cafe with his mother this week when the chaos unfolded once again.

The pair, who are co-owners, had just cashed up for the day.

A car crashed through Columbus Glen Innes after the driver mistook the accelerator for the brake. Photo / Supplied

“It was actually a busy day so thankfully we were just saying bye to some final customers ... we were literally just walking out,” Bacharam told the Herald.

“One of the customers of ours just stepped on the pedal too hard and went through the cafe.”

He said the impact pushed her car through both side corners of the cafe.

“I’ve never heard a bang like that in my life.

“We made sure she was okay, we called [emergency] responses as we do and yeah, everything was okay from then.”

Columbus Glenn Innes co-owner Sudhakar Bacharam outside his shop after a car accidentally crashed through the glass doors. Photo / Jason Dorday

Bacharam said the woman was a regular customer who he described as a “lovely lady”.

He said the people at the laundromat next door came out when they heard the bang and offered to help.

Bacharam described the accident as a “simple mishap”.

“It was a mistake and not a nice thing to happen, but in terms of the cafe we have a solid community.

“These things do happen, but our community have been great to support us.”

No one was reported injured.

The car crashed through one glass door and out the other. Photo / Supplied

He said he expected the parent Columbus group to support his cafe in the next stages, as well as the local community.

“Please support local guys.”

The cafe remains open for business, with two of its floor-to-ceiling glass doors boarded up with plywood.

Columbus Glen Innes remains open. Photo / Jason Dorday

Roy Elliot, who goes to the cafe every day, said when he heard the news he drove straight to the cafe.

“Someone decided it should be a drive-thru,” he laughed.

“My daughter saw Suds post on Facebook ... I live locally so I just came straight up.”

Elliot described the scene as “chaos”.

“They were wiping everything... there was glass everywhere on everything, so it was a case of wiping every table, every chair.

“It was all over the floor, right up to the corners, to the table.”

Elliot described the cafe owners as “family to him” and said there’s a great sense of community within the cafe.

“A lot of us - semi-retirees like me - we come in before work; we all chat and solve the world’s problems and go back to work.”