PARADISE, Calif. - The only Taco Bell in Paradise was closed Monday after a motorist slammed through the drive-thru and into a building next door.
CAL FIRE responded to the fast food store on Clark Road about 12:25 p.m., during the busy lunch hour.
According to the manager of the Taco Bell an elderly woman was pulling into the restaurant and hit the gas instead of the brake, jumping the curb and taking out the drive-thru menu. Her SUV then jumped another curb, missing about eight cars waiting in the drive-thru line, and then slammed into the wall of the laundromat. Only the tail end of the woman's vehicle could be seen sticking out of the building.
A gas pipe in the structure was also hit, and both of the buildings had to be evacuated.
The woman received minor injuries.
Taco Bell General Manager Jim Vodden says his business is expected to be closed all day Monday because of the gas leak.