SUV plows into Arlington Heights restaurant
A Mundelein man and his children escaped serious injury Sunday when his SUV swerved off the road, knocked over a light pole and slammed into a Denny's restaurant in Arlington Heights, police said.
Police said driver Jose Ozaeta, 43, apparently suffered a medical episode just after noon while behind the wheel of a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban traveling west on Algonquin Road near Arlington Heights Road.
Witnesses told police that after the Suburban passed through the intersection, it veered into the eastbound lanes of Algonquin then left the roadway, striking the pole and crashing into the east side of the restaurant at 17 W. Algonquin Road.
A witness helped remove Ozaeta's three minor children from the vehicle while police and firefighters extricated the Mundelein man.
Arlington Heights Police Chief Nicholas Pecora said Ozaeta was unconscious after the crash and taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights for treatment of injuries police later said were not life-threatening.
The children and a restaurant employee were treated at the scene by paramedics, according to police.
The restaurant is closed for dine-in customers because of the state's stay-at-home order, but was open for curbside pickup Sunday afternoon.
After the crash, the front of the Suburban was lodged inside the building where one of the windows on the southeast side used to be. The shattered remains of the window were scattered on the asphalt nearby and the dislodged light pole was resting on the roof of the restaurant.
Ozaeta later was issued a ticket for improper lane use, police said. His court date is pending.