A car crashed through the front window of Piara Pizza in Moreno Valley on August 31, destroying a large portion of the storefront but leaving no one injured. Firefighters and Riverside County Sheriff's deputies responded to the restaurant in the 24900 block of Alessandro Boulevard that night after reports of a vehicle that had driven into the building.
The pizza shop, located in the 24900 block of Alessandro Boulevard, sustained major damage to its entrance, according to OnScene TV, which reported the crash. The outlet reported major storefront damage as deputies worked the scene.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with deputies, who administered field sobriety tests before releasing the driver without an arrest, per the outlet's reporting. Exactly what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway and plow into the building has not been disclosed, and the circumstances of the crash remain under investigation.
Why Sheriff's Deputies, Not Local Police, Responded
Moreno Valley does not have its own independent police department. Public safety and traffic investigations in the city are instead handled by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, which has operated as the Moreno Valley Police Department under a municipal contract dating back to 1985, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. Moreno Valley is one of 15 incorporated Riverside County cities that contracts out its municipal policing this way.
Alessandro Boulevard, where the crash happened, is a surface street in Moreno Valley, according to the Moreno Valley Police Department. A Moreno Valley operation produced eight traffic citations, the department has noted.
According to a 2012 City of Moreno Valley traffic study, the city proposed improving Alessandro Boulevard between I-215 and Old 215 Frontage Road from a four-lane divided arterial to a six-lane divided major roadway.
No Injuries Reported as Owner Boards Up Storefront
No injuries were reported in connection with the crash, per OnScene TV's coverage. The restaurant's owner worked to have the damaged storefront boarded up for the night, and the outlet reported that the damage will affect business operations for an unknown length of time.
Had anyone been seriously hurt, Moreno Valley is home to the Riverside University Health System Medical Center on Cactus Avenue, which operates as Riverside County's only ACS-COT verified Level I trauma center, according to the Yaghmai Law Firm. Level I trauma centers provide the highest or most comprehensive trauma care.
A Common but Costly Type of Crash
Storefront crashes like the one at Piara Pizza are far from rare. More than 100 vehicle crashes into commercial buildings occur each day across the United States, according to the Storefront Safety Council. Between 2014 and 2017, retail stores accounted for 24% and restaurants for 19% of U.S. storefront crashes, while commercial buildings accounted for 23%, per the McCue Corporation.
Operator or pedal error was responsible for 56% of the cited storefront crashes, according to the cited data. The available figures do not establish a share for DUI-related incidents. Nationwide, storefront crashes cause an estimated 16,000 injuries and 2,600 fatalities each year, with about 42% of incidents resulting in at least one injury, the Storefront Safety Council reports.
According to the California Office of Traffic Safety's California Annual Report 2023, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities increased by 18.2 percent from the 2020 base year of 1,159 to 1,370 in 2021. The California Office of Traffic Safety's California Highway Safety Plan 2023 set a goal of reducing alcohol-impaired driving fatalities 8.80 percent from the preliminary final FARS number of 1,159 to 1,057 by December 31, 2023.
The report does not specify the legal status of field sobriety tests or preliminary alcohol screenings. The cited legal discussion also does not establish whether drivers can decline those tests without license penalties or whether the tests explained the driver's release.
This follows a four-injury crash at Iris and Lasselle that Hoodline covered in Moreno Valley. The exact mechanical or driver cause behind Monday's crash into Piara Pizza, along with the timeline and cost of repairing the storefront, remain open questions as the restaurant works to reopen.
