Restaurant employee lucky to be alive after crash

SUNRISE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A dangerous day on the job as a driver put the wrong pedal to the metal and crashed right into a cafe.

It was a few minutes before noon when a red SUV smashed into Havana's Cuban Cuisine in Sunrise.

Surveillance video caught the crash just before it happened. A bartender at the restaurant was prepping the bar just before the restaurant was set to open, when he looked up and dodged the SUV just in the nick of time.

Twenty-nine-year-old Edwin Perez said he's lucky to be alive. "I was in shock," said Perez. "When the manager told me, 'Be careful!', I saw the car and when I saw the car I jumped over the counter."

Perez ended up with cuts on his legs. After the crash Perez's co-workers ran out of the restaurant to check on the driver. They said she is in her 70's. It's not clear yet why she lost control. She wasn't injured.

The restaurant's owner is Michael Mellion. He said he 's glad she's OK and so is his bartender.

Reporter: "How grateful are you he only has a few stitches?"

Mellion: "Very much so. Very much so. He's athletic."

It is unclear if the driver is going to be cited for the accident. In the mean time, Mellion plans on re-opening the restaurant on Thursday.

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