BRADENTON, Fla. — Video obtained exclusively by 10 Tampa Bay shows the terrifying moments a driver in a Tesla sped through a Bradenton gas station and drove into a neighboring outdoor bar.
Two people were injured and several cars were damaged after a driver lost control of their vehicle and drove into the walls of the Tiki Bar at the Lantern Inn and Suites on Monday.
The Florida Highway Patrol says a 63-year-old driver was driving northbound around 3:34 p.m. in the parking lot of the RaceTrac gas station located on U.S. 41 near North Tamiami Trail.
Two people who were sitting at the bar had to be treated at the hospital. One of them, a 69-year-old Bradenton man, was listed with critical injuries and is still in the hospital. The other, a 59-year-old Bradenton woman, was listed with serious injuries.
Three days and several temporary repairs later, the Tiki Bar at the Lantern Inn and Suites is back open this Thursday for the first time since the crash.
However, the owner of the bar and inn said this experience has left his employees and customers shaken.
Manjot Gill, owner of Lantern Inn and Suites said, "They feel safe here, it's one of the reasons they come here. So for this... it's a shocker. It's really hard to cope with it."
Watching the inn's surveillance video, Gill said he is grateful more people were not sitting at the bar that afternoon.
"We had an individual walking here just minutes before. Had she been there, it would have been a really sad day," Gill said.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, the driver of the Tesla involved claims his car excelled out of the gas station and would not let him break. The investigation is ongoing, and FHP says it will be working to retrieve the video from the car. Meanwhile, the 63-year-old driver faces careless driving charges and will have to go to court.
Gill said regardless of how this happened, he believes the RaceTrac should have more precautions in place.
"Throughout [their parking lot], there are steel bollards, all the way across. However, there is not a single bollard on this side in front of the parking spaces. Had there been any bollards or any safety measures, this could have been prevented," Gill said.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to RaceTrac, sharing his concerns. The store said it has no comment at this time.
10 Tampa Bay also reached out to Telsa twice for comment about the driver's claims that the car locked up and would not let him break. We have not heard back.