A hit-and-run involving two cars damaged the exterior column of El Buen Sabor taqueria at 18th and Valencia streets this afternoon, causing the building’s supporting beam to tilt enough that the restaurant closed and residents in the apartments above the taqueria were temporarily displaced.
No witnesses at the scene saw the collision directly. Secondhand accounts described a silver Toyota sedan that remained at the scene, and a second vehicle that witnesses described as a black car traveling west on 18th street at rapid speed. A San Francisco Police Department spokesperson said the incident occurred around 1:18 p.m.
Though the investigation is still ongoing, SFPD spokesperson Paulina Henderson said officers determined road rage may have caused the collision. Henderson said that officers later found an unoccupied, badly damaged vehicle at the intersection of 14th and Natoma streets that fits the description of the fleeing car. She said no arrests had yet been made.
Cristiano Valli, who did not see the accident but heard it, said he was on the 33-Ashbury bus at 18th Street going west when he heard a loud boom and saw a pedestrian hiding behind the restaurant’s column, just after the impact.
“I was on my phone, but the impact was very loud,” Valli said. “Then, I saw a guy taking cover behind the column right after the crash.”
A worker with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency added that the speeding black car fled north on Valencia Street. The San Francisco Police Department said they couldn’t share any information on the driver of the silver sedan, or the second driver who fled the scene.
Captain Jonathan Baxter of the San Francisco Fire Department said that there were no reports of injuries, and that his team worked fast to build a makeshift wooden column next to the affected concrete column to help stabilize the building.
Baxter said he was hopeful the wooden structure would allow the business to stay open, and the residents who live above it to stay in their homes. The ultimate decision, however, will come from the city’s Department of Building Inspection. The three-story building has several apartments on its top two floors.
For Alfred Hamilton, the owner of the building, being able to stay open is crucial, because he is afraid the taqueria’s food will go to waste otherwise.
Hamilton said he frequently sees cars making illegal U-turns on Valencia, particularly since the center bike lane was constructed.
Anyone with information is asked to contact SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.
I was there. It was definitely road rage. The two cars were speeding on 18th St heading east trying to cut each other off.
It has nothing to do with the bike lane or an illegal U-turn.
Bikes are not the problem.
Well … this really pisses me off.
My burrito lengua !!!
One block from the fortress of solitude donut house – nobody lookin out the windows.
Department of Building Inspection decides your fate.
Insult to injury.
Release the hounds and find this ….. (expletive deleted).
Hit and run – minimum 2 years in that hell hole of a city jail.
No probation.
No time off for “good behavior”.
Rot.
Car that got hit was Silver, guessing a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox but didn’t get a good look, 64270F2. Just heard tires screeching a few seconds before I heard the impact. That Toyota sedan hit the other car onto the pillar. Impact was 1:15-1:16 PM, and they did go Northbound on Valencia not long after impact.
Ugh, tell me again about how bikes are the real problem on Valencia.