Car plows onto Virginia Beach restaurant patio, pins customer

NORFOLK, Va. — A night out at a Virginia Beach restaurant turned frightening when a car plowed through fencing and onto an occupied patio, pinning one woman underneath — in what one of the restaurant's co-owners is calling a miracle.

The incident happened Wednesday night at The Rustic Spoon's Pleasure House Road location in Virginia Beach.

The restaurant shared surveillance video of the moment on social media Friday.

"There was a gentleman parked here on the handicapped spot. Put the car in drive instead of reverse, and he went up the curb over the bike rack, knocked over the metal railing, and then ran over the table where the two ladies are sitting," Ryan Hines, one of the co-owners of The Rustic Spoon, said.

In the surveillance video, which I've blurred because two women were sitting at the table, one of the women ended up pinned under the car. People can be seen rushing out of the restaurant to help, with folks on the phone right away with 911.

"One of our bartenders, she kind of quarterbacked the whole thing and was talking to the lady, trying to keep her calm. I got the phone call and I live about 15 minutes away. By the time I got here, the first responders had acted very quickly," Hines said.

Hines says police got right to work, shutting down Pleasure House Road while firefighters tended to the woman under the car.

"According to my staff, fire department jacked the car up quickly and got the lady out from under the car," Hines said.

Through a mutual friend, Hines was able to find out what happened next, and he couldn't believe it.

"The lady that was trapped under the car, they tested both of them for. Internal bleeding. They both took CAT scans. She had a massive laceration on her face. At the end of all of it, graced by God, man, she walked away and went home that night and did not have any broken bones," Hines said.

"The fact that she sustained those injuries and they weren't more life threatening is, that's the miracle in itself," Hines said.

As for the man who was driving the car that hit the two women, I'm told he did stick around on the scene, and it sounds like it was accidental. I reached out to Virginia Beach police, who tell me they are investigating.

"The first responders in our team acted professionally, swiftly," Hines said.

Hines says he is in contact with the two women. The Rustic Spoon is prepared to offer them a free meal whenever they feel safe to come back — though it probably won't be outside this time.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.