Massachusetts Woman Charged After Crashing Into Restaurant, Burning Employee With Hot Oil

A restaurant employee suffered severe burns after Amanda Hall, 38, of Lowell, Massachusetts, allegedly drove her vehicle into a building at Sun Plaza in Nashua, New Hampshire, sending hot cooking oil spilling across the kitchen area and onto the worker, police say.

The crash happened March 14 at 295 Daniel Webster Highway. A caller reported seeing a vehicle strike the building and leave the area, prompting Nashua Police Department officers to respond to the Sun Plaza complex, a large retail and restaurant development on the west side of Daniel Webster Highway. The impact of the collision caused hot cooking oil to spill onto a restaurant employee, causing what police described as severe burns that required hospitalization. The employee was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Hall did not get far. Officers arriving at the scene located her vehicle lodged in a snowbank in the same parking lot as the restaurant. Hall was still inside. After a brief investigation, officers took her into custody.

She now faces three charges: aggravated driving while intoxicated with collision causing serious injury, a felony; conduct after an accident with injury, also a felony; and driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. Hall was booked on all three counts and released on $500 cash bail. Her arraignment is scheduled for March 26 in Nashua District Court.

Sun Plaza tenants include Shanghai Osaka Restaurant and Himalayan Curry House, but police did not name the specific restaurant where the employee was burned. The injured employee has not been publicly identified. No information on the employee's current medical condition beyond the initial hospitalization has been released.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Nashua Police Department Crime Line at 603-589-1665.