High Desert Perspective

LUCERNE VALLEY – A woman crashed into and destroyed the Adelitas Restaurant sign late Thursday night, but authorities said no one was injured in the solo crash.

Around 11:30 p.m. gas station attendants at the Valero gas station said they heard a loud boom outside and ran out to the street in time to see a woman in a van hit a guard rail and then careen through the Mexican restaurant’s parking lot, destroying everything in the van’s path.

“It sounded like a gunshot,” said Thomas Herrera, a clerk at Valero who called 911 to report the accident.

Authorities from both the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol responded to the 32600 block of Highway 18, where they found the woman uninjured despite initial reports that she may have suffered injuries, according to Arden Wiltshire, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department.

“The driver was traveling eastbound and bounced off both guardrails before she took out a large restaurant sign and caused miscellaneous debris and minor property damage,” Wiltshire said.

California Highway Patrol Officers took over the investigation, but their report was incomplete as of Monday, said Officer William Osegueda.

It was unknown whether drugs or alcohol were suspected, or whether the woman was arrested.