Close call when car plows into Lake City Little Caesars

FHP: Woman, 42, slams into pizza store with customers inside

LAKE CITY, Fla. – Several people were inside a Lake City pizza store when an SUV smashed into the building early Sunday evening, authorities said.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Vickie Doyle, 42, was trying to make a right turn into a parking spot about 5:45 p.m. when she drove over the curb and into the lobby of the Little Caesars restaurant on Southwest State Road 47.

News4Jax was told there were about 15 customers and at least six employees inside when it happened.

Surveillance video shows the vehicle slammed through the storefront. Some customers were waiting in front of the counter, others were talking to each other or looking at their phones when troopers said the Kia Sorento crashed into the store. Glass could be seen flying everywhere.

Starr Williams, who has worked at Little Caesars for more than a year, said she was in the back, making pizza dough when she heard a big bang, looked up at the camera and saw a vehicle in the lobby. 

"It was very shocking," Williams told News4Jax on Monday. "The debris did get one little girl in the leg. Thank goodness there was a lady that was standing right in front of the window -- she moved like three seconds before the car came through."

Troopers said she did not require hospitalization and no one else was injured.

Doyle, of Lake City, is charged with careless driving, according to the FHP report.

The Little Caesars opened the next day and the hole was boarded up. 


About the Authors:

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.