Driver Crashes Into Village Inn in Virginia; One Person Treated for Minor Injuries

An 82-year-old woman driving a Buick Enclave struck the southeast side of the Village Inn restaurant at 1500 13th Street South in Virginia at 9:47 a.m. Thursday, also clipping an unoccupied parked car in the lot before coming to a stop.

The Virginia Fire Department arrived on the scene to triage the driver and several customers who had been seated near the point of impact. One patron sustained an injury from glass debris and was treated at the scene; no life-threatening injuries were reported. A Village Inn representative said damage was limited to "a window and a wall" and declined to comment further on injuries.

Restaurant staff said the driver allegedly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, sending the Buick into the building's exterior. The cause, known as pedal confusion, is among the most commonly cited factors in storefront crash investigations. The Virginia Police Department, along with local fire and EMS crews, secured the scene and removed the vehicle. The crash was under investigation as of initial reporting, with no charges announced. Whether the driver would face a medical evaluation or license review was not immediately disclosed, a question that routinely follows crashes in which an elderly driver strikes a commercial building.

The restaurant closed Thursday morning and was expected to reopen by Thursday afternoon, pending structural safety assessments and insurance inspections. Virginia Police asked anyone with dashcam or surveillance footage from the area to contact investigators.

Incidents like this one often prompt nearby business owners and city officials to reassess storefront protections, including installing protective bollards along parking lot perimeters, adjusting traffic flow near building entrances, and reviewing whether current signage and parking layouts adequately separate vehicles from occupied structures. The Storefront Safety Council, which has tracked vehicle-into-building crashes since 2014, reports more than 100 such incidents per day across the United States, resulting in approximately 16,000 injuries and up to 2,600 fatalities annually. More than half occur at retail shops, restaurants, or convenience stores. The council validated its 2023 analysis with CHC Global, a London-based risk management consultancy and Lloyd's of London brokerage.

Virginia, the commercial heart of the Mesabi Iron Range, has a population of 8,421 and sits roughly 60 miles northwest of Duluth. A brief closure of any anchor restaurant in the downtown corridor registers quickly in a city of that size, and Thursday's crash will likely sharpen attention on what physical safeguards stand between parking lots and storefronts along 13th Street South.

The Village Inn chain is owned by Minnetonka-based BBQ Holdings, Inc., which acquired it out of bankruptcy in July 2021. The company now operates 116 locations across 18 states, down from 212 restaurants as of September 2015.