Who says lightning can’t strike twice in the same place?
Just ask Gracy Ayala, who is busy repairing her Escondido taco shop after an SUV careened through her shop’s front window on the night of Nov 11, heavily damaging the building’s interior, fixtures and equipment.
Exactly one year and one day earlier, on Nov. 10, 2020, a pickup truck had smashed through the window on the other side of the building, also causing major damage.
Ayala and her husband, Roberto, were especially grateful that no customers or workers were injured when the latest crash occurred at 10:15 p.m. at Frida’s Street Tacos, at the intersection of East Valley Parkway and Fig Street.
“The employees were thankfully out of the way when the car came crashing in,” Ayala said.
But she’s still praying for the driver of a pickup truck that was hit by the SUV before it then plowed into the front of the taco shop. The man was thrown from his truck and suffered life-threatening injuries, according to police. He was taken to Palomar Medical Center, but an update on his condition was not available.
Ayala is keeping the family business going while overseeing repairs on the building. The SUV landed in the dining area of the taco shop, destroying tables and chairs and even damaging the front counter, which was recently replaced as part of a renovation. Ayala said she was told that glass to fix the front of the building is back-ordered and might take up to six weeks to arrive.
For the time being, patrons can sit at the restaurant’s patio tables or order food for takeout, she said.
Handling the aftermath of the second crash in just over a year has been stressful, to say the least.
“Just dealing with insurance and getting additional permits, it’s taken a toll on us,” she said. “This kind of sets us back a lot, unfortunately.”
According to police, the incident began in Oceanside when two men carjacked the SUV at knifepoint from a parking garage in the 200 block of Seagaze Drive. Sometime after that incident, the SUV picked up two women, and two children, ages 3 and 5.
The women and two children were in the SUV with the two alleged carjackers when the vehicle ran a red light at Valley Parkway and Fig Street in Escondido, striking the pickup truck and slamming into the taco shop. The alleged driver and his accomplice ran from the scene but were caught by police.
The women and children were treated at area hospitals for minor injuries.
Police and jail officials identified the alleged driver as Hans Nanduca, 20, of Oceanside. He was booked into the Vista jail on charges of carjacking, child cruelty, DUI, hit and run, and assault with a deadly weapon.
His alleged accomplice, 19-year-old Anthony Ismael Quezada of Escondido, was booked on charges of carjacking and child cruelty.
Escondido police said the case remains under investigation, and it was not clear if the two women in the car, one of whom was the mother of the two children, would face any charges.
As of Tuesday, Nanduca remained in custody in lieu of $475,000 bail, and Quezada remained in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail. Both men were scheduled to appear in Vista Superior Court on Dec. 2.
Ayala said that after experiencing the second vehicle crash at her business, she contacted city officials to see if concrete posts or another type of safety barrier can be placed on the corner in front of the shop.
“It’s scary. I fear for my customers and employees,” she said. “It’s a dangerous intersection.”
While she puts her taco shop back together, she’s also running a catering business and a portable taco stand that is set up at different farmer’s markets around San Diego County.
Long before the Nov. 11 crash, she had planned to serve a free Thanksgiving Day meal of taco plates with rice, beans and a drink. Despite the incident, she went ahead with the plan, and the shop planned to serve as many as 1,500 free taco plates Thursday.
The key for moving beyond this latest setback, she said, is to keep busy and concentrate on the future.
“I don’t want to slow down; when we slow down, we think of all the bad things that happened,” Ayala said. “The more you sit and think about it, it hurts. We just want to move on. You’ve got to stay positive.”
