90-year-old driver injured after plowing into Los Gatos coffee shop on Thanksgiving, police say

By Tim Fang

An elderly driver has been hospitalized after plowing his vehicle into a coffee shop in Los Gatos on Thanksgiving night, police said.

According to the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department, officers were called to the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company near Main Street and University Avenue around 9 p.m. Firefighters also responded to the scene and were able to extricate the driver, identified as a 90-year-old Los Gatos man.

The driver was taken to the hospital in “serious but stable condition,” according to officers.

Surveillance video captured the moment a black Volvo sped down University Avenue, showing no sign that the driver attempted to brake before crashing into the building. A photo shared by police showed the sedan inside the business, along with what one of the owners called “devastating damage” to the coffee shop.

“Everything within the café side was destroyed. Our coffee roaster took damage,” said co-owner Dylan Phillips. “There’s probably nothing salvageable on the café side. Plumbing [was] broken, leaking into our basement. Lots of our inventory… destroyed.”

Phillips co-owns the shop with founder Teri Hope. Customers who viewed the surveillance video estimated the vehicle was traveling between 70 and 100 miles per hour.

“The vehicle came all the way to probably 20 or 30 feet [into our building] and ended up kind of pinned halfway on top of our roaster,” Phillips said. “I’m surprised that the car didn’t go all the way through the building.”

Phillips said he is overwhelmed by community support and is relieved the crash did not happen during business hours. The store was only open for half the day on Thanksgiving.

“It’s a blessing that this happened on Thanksgiving night,” he said. “If not, we would’ve had 50 customers in here listening to live music. We would’ve had the restaurants on the street open. Our normal Thursday night, we would’ve had 30 to 40 people walking around at 9 p.m. when this happened, and it would’ve ended up much, much worse. It would’ve been a major disaster.”

In a statement on Friday, police said alcohol may have played a role in the incident, but “all factors” are being looked at as part of the investigation. There was no one else in the vehicle.

Longtime customer Mike McHone called the damage heartbreaking.

“It’s pretty horrible, it’s pretty tragic,” he said. “This place has been here for generations. It’s for the community.”

The coffee shop, which opened about 45 years ago, is considered a downtown institution, serving as a daytime café and a gathering spot with live music at night.

“For many loyal customers, this is their living room, their second living room,” said Dinah Cotton, a contributing journalist for the “Los Gatan” newspaper. “They come here, and they make friends and have coffee.”

City inspectors have yellow-tagged the building, requiring repairs before structural engineers can determine whether it is safe to reopen. There is no firm timeline, but the owners hope to resume operations within five to ten days.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police at 408-354-6800.