BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — A man is locked up after crashing a tractor-trailer into an Italian restaurant in Columbia County.
Court papers show that Justin Aiken was traveling from Ohio to a food processing plant nowhere near Bloomsburg. Aiken told police he does not even remember why he got off the highway in the first place.
When police talked to the owner of A Taste of Italy right after the crash, he told them the driver was inside the truck, smoking a cigarette.
Aiken later admitted to police he had used crystal meth before getting behind the wheel.
It was a close call for workers and customers when the tractor-trailer crashed into the front of the restaurant.
"It could have been very bad," said Denise Shelhamer.
Shelhamer works in the same small strip mall two doors down from A Taste of Italy. The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday, and she says if it had happened even just an hour earlier, things could have been much worse.
"I had gone out for dinner with my boyfriend, and we pulled back into the parking lot at 9:15 p.m. The parking lot was still full, things were going strong at A Taste of Italy," said Shelhamer.
The employees were cleaning up and getting ready to head home for the night when Justin Aiken drove a tractor-trailer carrying cattle into the dining room of the restaurant.
No one was hurt, and the animals are OK.
Police arrested Aiken after he failed a field sobriety test, and they found pills and what they suspected to be methamphetamine in his truck.
According to court papers, someone who was driving right behind Aiken on Columbia Boulevard saw him drive directly off the road and into the restaurant. That witness says he saw no indication that Aiken attempted to stop before hitting the building.
"It's very scary. We're on a busy highway here, and by a red light, so every day at the salon, we're always hearing tires screeching or cars coming to a quick stop or loud noises, and you always wonder like, what if a car ever hit the building? And then it did."
Newswatch 16 was not able to speak with the owner of A Taste of Italy, but we are told he is hoping to reopen by the end of the week. A construction crew was there Monday working on repairs.
Greg Camp says A Taste of Italy is one of his favorite restaurants. He stopped by to check out the damage.
"I understand it happened at night, yeah, it would've been a lot worse if people were inside. My wife and I usually sit by the window. That would have been ugly."
Aiken is locked up in the Columbia County Prison. Police are still waiting for the results from a toxicology test.