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School bus plows into Arlington sub shop

No children on bus when it barrels through building; Driver will be OK

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a school bus drove into a sub shop Monday morning, the owner of the Cesery Boulevard shop said he'll be taking only to-go orders for the foreseeable future.

No children were on the bus, which could be seen on surveillance video plowing into the dining area of Wally's Gyros and Subs around 8:30 a.m. The driver was taken to a hospital but is expected to be OK.

Woodard Holland, who owns the building that houses the sub shop, said the bus actually hit the best possible part of the building.

WATCH: Surveillance video shows bus barreling into shop

“Fortunately, she didn’t hit any structural columns," Holland said. "If you can drive into a building, she drove into the best part of the building you can drive into.”

The kitchen area was not harmed, but Holland said the damage to his property is extensive and will likely cost from $50,000 to $100,000 to repair.

Wally Itani, who runs the sub shop, is expecting to take only to-go orders for at least a few weeks, and still had them churning out Monday, despite the damage and debris all over the dining area.

"It didn’t do any damage to any of his refrigeration, so the only thing that actually was damaged is his actual lobby," Holland said.

Security cameras from across the street show what led to the crash: the school bus collided with a pickup truck before making a sharp turn into the plaza.

Itani said this is the second time a vehicle has crashed into his family’s business in 20 years.

"It seems every few years we got hit somehow," Itani said.

Despite the serious damage to his business, Itani said he was thankful he could continue working and is glad no one was seriously hurt in the crash.

It took a few tries to tow the bus out of the building Monday morning as the bus scraped against the concrete and appeared to be stuck pretty tightly.

Crews were already out by noon getting everything cleaned up and started boarding up until repairs can be made. Itani said repairs could cost over $100,000.


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