Witnesses watched as an SUV straddled the curb and sidewalk in front of the BP gas station on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs, before crossing both south and northbound travel lanes and smashing through the security fence and into the west wall of the Hudson Grille on Dec. 15, police say.
The driver of the SUV, Benjamin Thurston, had just left the Amen Medical Clinic, where he had a CATSCAN done, according to the police report. Thurston said he lost consciousness while driving and he didn’t know what was caused him to blackout. His father, Samuel Thurston said he thought the dye injected into his son’s body at the clinic might have caused him to lose consciousness. Samuel Thurston said his son had been seeing doctors and undergoing tests to determine why he was passing out.
Dylon Ross was eating inside the Hudson Grille when he heard the loud crash, he said in the police report. Ross went to the parking lot and found Thurston awake in the SUV, but not moving. He pulled the driver from the SUV and later said Thurston appeared lethargic. Two women, who were eating dinner on the patio, said they saw Thurston accelerating toward them and they ran to a safe area.
The manager on duty Monday, Heather Watson, said she heard the loud noise and felt the building shake when the SUV struck the restaurant. Watson said the owners of the Hudson Grille would seek payment for the damage, but police did not issue any citations at the time of the accident because Thurston may have a medical illness. Citations may be issued after the test results come in, the report said.
This does beg the question as to why someone with unexplained, unpredictable blackouts, would be driving, does it not?