Car Crashes Into Red Horse Market Wednesday
A car slammed into the Red Horse Market in East Hampton Village on Wednesday afternoon, shattering a window by the food market's pizza oven and damaging brickwork on the building's exterior.
East Hampton Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said an elderly woman was behind the wheel of an Audi sedan when her foot slipped and hit the gas pedal at about 1:50 p.m. The car jumped the curb and hit the building, which is in the Red Horse Plaza off Montauk Highway. The Audi sustained minimal damage. No one was hurt. However, the accident left employees' nerves rattled.
"I thought the oven exploded," Ismael Hernandez said as he swept the glass off the sidewalk in front of the building.
Mr. Hernandez was standing near the display cases full of pizzas, several feet from the window, talking to Gennaro Bruno Giugliano, the pizza maker, when the crash occurred.
"Can you imagine if you were sitting over there?" Mr. Hernandez said to Mr. Giugliano, who was still visibly shaken 10 minutes after the crash.
"Thank God he had me talking," Mr. Giugliano said. He said the shards of glass would likely have fallen on him because he often sits by the window as he waits for pizzas to cook or be reheated.
Mr. Giugliano said Wednesday's incident is not the first time a car had hit the building. When Citarella's Tutto Italiano was housed there, vehicles struck it several times, coincidentally where the pizza ovens used to be located.
Jeff Lange, an owner, said the driver was a regular customer, who was shaken up but not hurt. The East Hampton Village Volunteer Ambulance Association responded to Red Horse Plaza, but did not transport her to the hospital.
Mr. Lange said the market would remain open.
Kenneth Collum, the East Hampton Village fire marshal, responded to assess the damage. Ben Krupinski, the owner of the building, also quickly responded and could be overheard telling construction workers to get a piece of plywood to close the opening.
Chief Larsen said police would forward the driver's information to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a review.