ROGERS PARK — A drunken driver early Sunday smashed his truck into two parked cars and a fish sculpture before careening into Sonny's Food Mart on Sheridan Road, police and witnesses said.
"It was very loud," said Sam Sandmel, who lives in the building that was struck about 12:15 a.m. "The whole building heard it. There were, like, three quick, loud crashes in succession."
So, this just happened at my building. #rogerspark pic.twitter.com/sV5sNLbnk3
— Samwise (@SamwiseEyes) August 3, 2014The driver fled, but was arrested shortly after and charged with driving drunk and other misdemeanor offenses, said Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.
Pacheco said police do not release the identity of people charged with only misdemeanor crimes. No injuries were reported.
Sandmel said the sculpture would be missed.
"I really liked there was art on or around the building," he said. "That’s one of the things I liked about Rogers Park: There’s public art everywhere."
The now-smashed, fish-themed sculpture was installed about seven years ago by neighborhood artist Andrew DelaRosa, founder of B1e Gallery on Glenwood Avenue.
"This was just an early example of me trying to put public work up in the parkway," said DelaRosa, 50. "I primarily make fish. That was a very large fish sculpture."
DelaRosa said he heard about what happened to his "one-of-a-kind" sculpture Monday morning, but was already planning to install a replacement for the corner in front of Sonny's.
"I have more artwork out of my shop — something there will fit," he said. "We'll keep artwork on the corner. Sonny always liked it. The neighborhood always liked it. It’s always been an installation, and I think it needs to stay there."
Mohammed Hussain, a cashier at Sonny's, said he had just closed up the store at midnight when he got a call that a gray truck had crashed into the store, stopping on the building's facade and narrowly missing the storefront windows.
He said the Sunday morning crash wasn't the only one he's seen outside the shop on busy Sheridan Road.
Last winter, a motorcyclist crashed at Lunt Avenue and Sheridan, then he and his bike caught on fire, Hussain said. He put the fire out with the store's fire extinguisher.
Four months ago, a car smashed into an electrical box outside.
"A guy in a Prius was wasted with his family, and he drove into it," Hussain said. "We get a lot of accidents here."
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