Security Camera Shows Van Plowing Into Schenectady Bar

This is scary as hell. Video shared to NewsChannel 13 from Rookie's Sports Bar in Schenectady shows a van driving straight through the front window of the bar.

It happened around 6:30 Thursday night. As you can see there were patrons sitting at the bar at the exact moment of impact. Luckily for everyone inside, the car didn't make it far enough into the building to hit anybody. Still, you can see just how close it was as debris went flying.

Police say the van ran a red light at the corner of Van Vranken Street and Hattie Ave, hitting another vehicle before slamming into the bar. The drivers of both vehicles were taken to Ellis Hospital and are expected to be ok.

Rookies posted photos of the damage inside and outside the bar on their Facebook page.

According to their Facebook page, the bar says nobody inside was injured in the crash and they will be closed for the foreseeable future as they try and clean up and rebuild. It looks like quite a bit of damage both inside and out. The front of the bar has been boarded up as seen in the video below.

Police say they don't believe alcohol or drugs were factors in the incident, the driver of the van was ticketed.

The bar owners thanked everyone who has stopped by to help clean up the mess. No estimate yet on when the bar might reopen, but it certainly doesn't help when something like this happens near St. Patrick's Day. Hopefully they can get it back open soon.

[Daily Gazette]