Five people were injured Saturday afternoon when a pickup truck drove up onto the sidewalk and struck a building on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara.
Crews were dispatched at about 12:40 p.m. to Carlitos Café y Cantina, 1324 State St., Santa Barbara fire Battalion Chief Mike De Ponce said.
The white Toyota Tacoma pickup was traveling up State Street when, for unknown reasons, it veered off to the right, knocking down a couple of utility poles and striking the Carlito’s building, De Ponce said.
Four people who were on the sidewalk suffered minor injuries and were taken by American Medical Response ambulances to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, De Ponce said.
The driver of the pickup, whose name was not released, also sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital.
Due to the number of victims, a mass casualty incident or MCI was declared, which brought more emergency resources to the scene.
The damage to the building appeared to be minor, De Ponce said, and no one was injured on the restaurant patio.
The incident was under investigation by Santa Barbara police.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
