Driver crashes into Berkeley coffee shop, taken to Highland
"The car was smoking and smelled of gas, so we got the driver clear while supporting her neck," a witness to the crash wrote on Twitter.
A woman was taken to the hospital after she crashed into a coffee shop in Berkeley on Tuesday morning, authorities report.
The solo collision happened at 11:10 a.m. at States Coffee at 2101 San Pablo Ave., the Berkeley Police Department said.
No one inside the shop was injured, but the collision shattered at least one glass window at the coffee shop, which is located on the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Addison Street.
Berkeley police and firefighters responded to the scene.
After the crash, the driver was taken by ambulance to Highland Hospital, the regional trauma center in Oakland, authorities said.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by BPD's traffic unit.
Writing on Twitter, Jess McLaughlin described stopping by States Coffee to grab lunch on Tuesday shortly before the crash happened.
"I thought it was The Big One for a second, seriously earthquake-level shaking," McLaughlin wrote. "Luckily no one was hit, but the driver appeared to have had some sort of medical event."
"It was really powerful to see how quickly everyone sprang into action," McLaughlin wrote. "The car was smoking and smelled of gas, so we got the driver clear while supporting her neck. Someone called 911 right away. A person who I think was a nurse immediately took charge of monitoring her vitals."
McLaughlin checked the woman's ID and learned she lived nearby and spoke Farsi.
Someone found a translator at the Persian market across the street, and McLaughlin found a neighbor who helped them connect with the driver's family.
McLaughlin continued: "I held her hand while the paramedics did an exam, while the nurse continued to monitor her pulse and the guy from the deli continued to translate. She was clearly scared and disoriented, and having someone there explaining what the paramedics were doing seemed to calm her down."
States staff members gave out water and coffee to everyone who helped in the aftermath of the crash, McLaughlin wrote.
In the Twitter thread, McLaughlin credited States Coffee with "making sure everyone was safe" and also put in a plug for basic first aid training.
"As a final note, those of us who jumped up were all, it became clear, folks with significant training on first aid + emergency response," McLaughlin wrote. "One way to make sure you're ready to help your community when stuff happens is to get trained in even just basic first aid. It really can help you be prepared when something happens."
Robert Prinz, Bike East Bay's advocacy director, noted on Twitter that city of Berkeley staff has proposed a quick-build two-way "cycletrack connector" on Addison Street this summer.
"A full protected bikeway on the San Pablo corridor through Berkeley was rejected by other business owners (not States)," Prinz wrote.
Learn more about Berkeley CERT and preparedness training on the city website.
