Questions remain about a bizarre Houston restaurant incident — even as a dramatic video is drawing more and more attention. An SUV crashed through a crowded restaurant located just blocks from NRG Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, mowing down patrons and leaving 10 people injured.
The crazy crash occurred at Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet, located in the 8200 block of Kirby near La Concha, around 1:55 p.m. A video, captured by the establishment's surveillance system, shows an SUV plow through the restaurant's front windows and continue into a dining area filled with people.
Of the 10 people injured, four were rushed to a nearby hospital, including a man who was thrown from his seat near the windows and pinned underneath the vehicle.
"As you see in the video, she came in and started going faster."
"I heard, like, an airplane went on top of the roof," Eihab Aldaqamoni, owner of Dimassi's, tells KHOU 11 News.
According to eyewitness reports, the roar of the crash sent patrons into a panic.
"Can you imagine how scary it was, all those people eating, enjoying themselves," customer Sally Bejarano says.
The video shows the vehicle come to a stop as it hits the restaurant's buffet counter, but the driver then backs up and accelerates into the counter again. The vehicle nearly hit an elderly couple who were getting food from the buffet at the time.
Asif Malik, who owns a business only a few doors down from Dimassi's, says one of his bankers was hit by the SUV as it plowed through the glass. "When I was going over there, they were waving at me to come inside," Malik says. He then adds that the vehicle threw the man all the way to the buffet, and just as he pulls himself out of the wreckage, the video shows the vehicle driving forward again.
"As you see in the video, she came in and started going faster," Aldaqamoni says.
Four ambulances, two fire engines and two other units from the Houston Fire Department responded to the scene.
The female driver of the SUV, who was reportedly trying to park in the handicap spot directly in front of the restaurant, was not arrested at the scene and allegedly told authorities she mistook the accelerator for the brake, NBC News reports.
"All my customers, I said, 'Thank you for the support, thank you for your business. We will be back in business in two days,' " Aldaqamoni vows.
Watch KHOU's full report:
Surveillance video shows the SUV plow through the restaurant as customers scramble to get away from the vehicle.
