Car slams into deli in Florida

TAMARAC, Fla. (WHDH) -- A car crashed into a South Florida deli, Monday morning.

The Broward Sheriff's Office said the driver, who is in his 60s, lost control of his white Honda Accord and drove right through the front doors of Nosher's Deli at 7134 Nob Hill Road, at about 10:15 Monday morning.

Employees had to yank patrons out of the way to prevent any serious injuries. "My employees reacted very quickly because we saw the gentleman coming through the window," said Paul Zebeck, owner of Nosher's Deli, "so the employees, they grabbed people out of the way, people were pushed out of the way, so when he did come through the window, thank God, nobody was injured."

No one was hurt beyond a few scratches. The car was stopped by a section of wall behind the glass. Otherwise, employees said, someone could have lost their life.

The owner of Nosher's Deli said he knows the driver: "He's a regular customer, nice gentleman."

Zebeck said he spoke to him after the accident. "Unfortunately, he didn't really know what happened. He just said all of a sudden the car was in the air. He didn't even know what happened."

The deli's owner said he had no hard feelings and would be glad to have him back ... so long as he uses the front door. "Absolutely, all of our customers are welcome here at Nosher's," Zebeck said.

This is not the first time a customer has crashed into the deli. On Feb. 1, 2010 a woman crashed her car into the deli and ran over six people, pinning one person under the car.

Steve Galin, the deli's previous owner spoke on camera after the accident. "She meant to put the car in reverse. The car was in drive, and she just floored it and went full into the restaurant and drover over a bunch of people."

Herb Schwartz remembered the previous accident, which sent six people to the hospital. "Yes, a few years ago, a car went right through, same thing ... deja vu."

After that 2010 accident, the restaurant's prior owners put up heavy concrete planters with rebar holding them into the cement walkway, in front of the restaurant. But they were damaged after the vehicle in this latest crash became airborne and took two of them out.

As the storefront undergoes repairs for the rest of the day, deli operators expect to have Nosher's re-opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday.