[KHTS] – Willy Linares, owner of Manzanillo Mexican Restaurant on Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country was standing behind the counter at 11 a.m. Monday morning, when a car plowed through the front door of his restaurant.

The motorist stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake pedal, lurching forward and coming to rest completely inside the restaurant.

Linares was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, but suffered only bruises and scratches, no broken bones, he said.

The incident caused several thousand dollars in damage to Linares’ business, which he purchased only 16 months ago.

His insurance company is coming out to assess the damage in a couple of days, he said.

This is the second time that someone has driven through the front door of Manzanillo, Linares said, once before he purchased the restaurant.

Now, Linares is petitioning the landlord to install concrete posts in front of businesses in the shopping center, to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

He is collecting signatures from the other tenants in the center, he said.

Linares doesn’t yet know when Manzanillo will reopen for business; he is waiting for the insurance company to make their assessment.

For more information about Manzanillo Mexican Restaurant, visit their Yelp profile, here.