Costco food court in Mission Valley closed after driver plows into ordering area

Passers-by at a Costco in San Diego were shocked Friday morning when a Mini Cooper plowed through a low concrete wall and into the food court.

Neither the driver nor anybody else at the big-box store on Fenton Parkway in Mission Valley was injured in the wreck when the late-model blue SUV with handicap plates came to a rest up against the wall near where the windows to order are located. There are handicap parking spots next to the food court where the accident happened.

A spokesman for the San Diego police said the crash occurred at about 9:15 a.m., nearly 45 minutes before the store opens, which explains why nobody was hurt in the area where there is typically a long series of switchback lines of people waiting to order.

Both first responders from San Diego Fire Rescue and SDPD quickly arrived on the scene, with firefighters using an axe and crowbar to remove the door so that workers could get out of the restaurant's kitchen. The Mini Cooper was mostly damaged in the vehicle's front and driver-side quarter panel.

A call to Costco confirmed that the food court at Costco was closed Thursday.