OLD TOWN — A popular Old Town bar and restaurant is raising money to support injured staff after a driver of a stolen car jumped a curb on Wells Street and careened it into a restaurant’s patio, injuring at least six people, including two restaurant employees.
At about 10:30 p.m. Friday, a driver in a silver Lexus sedan was driving southbound on Wells Street and attempted to pass a Prius heading in the same direction, police and fire officials said. But the car clipped the Prius, causing the driver to lose control and “jump the curb” at 1248 N. Wells St., according to a preliminary police report.
The car hit multiple people who were dining at Uproar restaurant’s outdoor patio. The driver fled the scene, according to police and social media posts from the restaurant and witnesses. The Prius driver was not injured, police said.
Three people were taken to St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in good condition, including a 26-year-old man with a bruised back, a 32-year-old man with a cut elbow and a 26-year-old woman with an injured foot, according to police.
Two women, ages 24 and 26, suffered broken legs and were taken to Northwestern Hospital in fair condition, police said. A fire department spokesman said a sixth person was also injured, but did not need to go to the hospital.
The car was stolen and the driver was attempting to flee when the accident occurred, fire officials said.
Nobody was in custody for the incident, police said early Saturday. In an email to Block Club, a police department spokesman said they could not immediately confirm that the car was stolen.
In social media posts, Dante Deiana, a partner in the Uproar restaurant’s ownership group, said that two of the restaurant’s staff sustained injuries and that the driver of the car did not check on the injured staff or restaurant patrons before fleeing. He thanked the Chicago fire and police departments for their quick response.
“Tonight a car was stolen, driven recklessly down a major street, Wells, and crashed into our restaurant,” Deiana wrote on Twitter. “Please be safe and aware of your surroundings at all times. And take care of each other. It’s scary times.”
Deiana did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Uproar said on its Instagram page that it was open Saturday in an effort to raise funds for its injured staffers. The restaurant has set up a GoFundMe that has raised more than $24,000 as of Saturday evening.
“We are absolutely heartbroken,” the Uproar staff wrote on the GoFundMe. “We are hopeful that by coming together as a community, we can assist those harmed to a speedy recovery.”
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