A driver slammed through the patio of Razorback Pizza in Maumelle on Wednesday afternoon, striking another vehicle first before barreling across a parking lot and into the restaurant's brick exterior. Police arrested the driver on driving while intoxicated charges, marking the second DWI-related crash into a Maumelle business from Sunday through Wednesday.
Police responded to the crash at the pizzeria, located at 20608 Arkansas 365, at about 2:30 p.m., according to The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The vehicle struck another car on Highway 365 before crossing a parking lot and crashing into the pizza restaurant, as reported by FOX16. No one was injured in the crash, and no customers or employees inside the restaurant were hurt.
The vehicle ended up in the patio area of Razorback Pizza, according to the Democrat-Gazette's reporting. KATV reported that the outside of the building was damaged after the car struck the entrance vestibule, while the interior of the restaurant was left untouched.
Driver Faces Multiple Charges
Fox16 identified the driver as Michael Wrenn and reported he was charged with driving while intoxicated, careless and prohibited driving, and failure to yield. Yahoo News, however, reported that the identity of the driver had not yet been released at the time of its publication, so the identification should be read with that discrepancy in mind. The station's report also noted that police said Wrenn would be taken to the Pulaski County Jail.
The crash marks a grim coincidence of geography. Razorback Pizza sits directly across the street from the Waffle House where employee Tracy Long was killed when a vehicle crashed into the restaurant early Sunday, per the same account from the Democrat-Gazette. That crash happened around 12:25 a.m. on September 27, according to KATV, along the same stretch of Highway 365 near the Morgan/Maumelle exit off Interstate 40, as described by KARK.
Second Crash Into a Business From Sunday Through Wednesday
Maumelle police said this was the second DWI-related crash into a business in the city from Sunday through Wednesday, a pattern the department has flagged publicly. Ranisha Peebles, 34, was arrested in connection with the fatal Waffle House crash and faces charges of negligent homicide, first-degree driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a chemical test, first-degree reckless driving, obstructing governmental operations, and having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle, according to the Democrat-Gazette. KARK reported that Peebles was being held at the Pulaski County Regional Detention Center, and the station later reported that she pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.
The back-to-back incidents land amid broader data on impaired driving across the state. A QuoteWizard study found that alcohol is a factor in 34% of fatal Arkansas car crashes, just below the national average of 36%, KARK reported. The same study found that drivers were legally or severely impaired in 27% of those fatal accidents, even as Arkansas issues fewer DUI citations than the national average — 30 per 10,000 drivers compared to 33 nationally — and has seen a 37% drop in DUI citations since 2010.
No details have been released about the extent of damage to Razorback Pizza's building, and it remains unclear whether the two crashes this week are connected in any way. For now, Maumelle residents are left with two wrecked storefronts along the same short stretch of Highway 365, and a police department underscoring how quickly impaired driving can turn an ordinary afternoon into another emergency call.
