HIGH POINT -- After being in business for nearly 20 years, one High Point restaurant is temporarily out of commission.            

A car smashed into Sumela Turkish and Mediterranean Restaurant early Monday morning.

Mehmet Cakal and his wife have owned Sumela for nearly 20 years. Cakal said a typical Monday includes employees coming in around 8:30 a.m. to prepare for the day.

"We do prep on the table back there, and I was there getting ready to do some prep work and then I just all of a sudden walked away from the table like 10 seconds before and then I started hearing some ceiling coming down," said Cakal.   

He said the noise was so loud it sounded like a gas explosion. Nearby businesses also heard the disturbing sound.

"It sounded maybe like the HVAC unit above us, but we knew it was something bad, something more,” said April Jewell, who works two doors down from the restaurant. “We came around the corner onto Main and we saw people stopping traffic and within 50 feet of me was a car that had crashed into the kitchen portion of Sumela Restaurant."

Jewell said she ran to see if everyone was all right.

"The driver of the car was out of the vehicle he was injured obviously and was bleeding from his head, staggering around the back of the car," said Jewell. "The passenger was trapped in the passenger side of the vehicle and they had to use the jaws of life to rescue him which did take an extended period of time to get him out."

High Point Police said both people were transported to High Point Regional Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Lt. Tracy Perry said the incident started as a hit and run near the intersection of Commerce Street and Main Street. Perry said within seconds of the first crash police were getting calls from concerned drivers.

"There was probably about five or six individuals that was in the traffic flow that he had passed, and they said he was running at an excessive of 100 miles per hour when he lost control,” said Jewell.  

Coming within seconds of Cakal’s life.

"He was right there, and he literally turned around and walked away and turned back around and they were in the kitchen," said Kimberly Cakal.  

Police said the driver, Vincent Louis Catty, is being charged with felony hit and run, felony speeding to elude arrest, careless & reckless driving, red light violation and seatbelt violation. 

Sumela plans to open as soon as repairs can be made.