A car crashed into the front of Pagliai’s Pizza on the Strip shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday. 

Assistant Fire Chief Mike Hertz said the driver, an “elderly gentleman,” hit the restaurant about 2:13 p.m. after the vehicle went over two curbs. The driver was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale and no one else was injured.

The car struck the building — leaving it with a broken window and some smashed bricks — after going down West Hospital Drive and swerving to miss a bus traveling on South Illinois Avenue. 

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“It sounded like an explosion went off,” said Niko Muniz, a senior from Westchester studying broadcasting who lives near the pizzeria. “I’m just thankful he didn’t go through the window and hit anyone.” 

The Daily Egyptian’s campus desk can be reached at 618-536-3325.