A Nanaimo restaurant has had its seating capacity cut nearly in half after a vehicle destroyed its wooden street-side patio.

Carrie Williams, owner of the Breakfast Nook at 366 Selby St. in NanaimoB次元官网网址檚 Old City Quarter, said she got a phone call from the Nanaimo RCMP at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 8, informing her that the structure had been destroyed by a vehicle earlier in the morning.

B次元官网网址淪omeone, literally, just ran right through it,B次元官网网址� Williams said. B次元官网网址淒ragged half of it down the block. The RCMP called us B次元官网网址� and left a message. We called them back and he said, yes itB次元官网网址檚, like, demolished. I said, B次元官网网址榃hat do you mean, B次元官网网址渄emolished?B次元官网网址� If someone hit it I would have thought that they wouldnB次元官网网址檛 get far, but no, it was torn up.B次元官网网址�

By noon the city had picked up the debris and Williams said she was waiting to hear back from her insurance company and hopes she has some coverage.

Williams said the patio seated about 10 people, almost doubling the seating capacity of the small restaurant.

The patio was one of several set up under the cityB次元官网网址檚 temporary patio program during the COVID-19 pandemic to allow restaurants to maintain, as much as possible, their normal customer seating capacity while meeting social distancing requirements. The city allowed the patios to remain after COVID restrictions were eased, but business owners were required to pay for the programB次元官网网址檚 costs.

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Nanaimo RCMP are looking for the driver and vehicle that destroyed the patio.

B次元官网网址淎t about 5 oB次元官网网址檆lock this morning, people heard a crash and came outside,B次元官网网址� said reserve Const. Gary OB次元官网网址橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman. B次元官网网址淚t appears that an unknown vehicle crashed into the [patio]. Debris was scattered about.B次元官网网址�

OB次元官网网址橞rien said no eyewitnesses have been found yet and there were no security surveillance cameras operating in the area.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e asking the public to give us a call,B次元官网网址� OB次元官网网址橞rien said.

Williams said she is moving the Breakfast Nook to a new location at the Quality Inn Hotel, located just a block away at 440 Selby St., which has outdoor patio seating and she expects to have the business operating in time for the summer season.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e literally just moving the Nook over there,B次元官网网址� she said.

Anyone with information about the vehicle or driver involved in the collision is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP detachment non-emergency line at 250-754-2345 and quote file #2022-19472.

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