A man driving on U.S. 378 from Interstate 95 in Turbeville ran through the front outside portion of Chat-N-Chew about 2:15 p.m. Thursday, taking down an awning and strewing debris in front of the restaurant.
Owner Bernard Blackmon said the restaurant will hopefully reopen Friday morning. It will not reopen at 4 p.m. today. The restaurant typically closes between 2-4 p.m., Blackmon said.
"Luckily we were closed so no one was coming out that front door," Blackmon said. "It could've been much, much worse. We're just happy no one was hurt."
The Manning Times has put in calls to the S.C. Highway Patrol, which have not yet been returned. Blackmon said the driver admitted to looking at his GPS and not the road as he was supposed to round the turn on U.S. 378.
"He said his GPS didn't show a turn, so he just came rounding that and knocked the front awning down," Blackmon said. "He also knocked down the light pole there."
Blackmon said there was still some debris blocking the front entrance as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
"I won't reopen tonight, but I will hopefully by in the morning," he said. "I've still got some debris out in front of the store right now we're trying to deal with."
