Charges 'not anticipated' against driver who killed man inside restaurant

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities announced Friday morning that charges are not anticipated against the driver who crashed into a Gwinnett County restaurant Thursday afternoon.

Patricia Gregory, 68, from Lawrenceville, was pulling into the parking lot of M&J Homestyle Cooking on West Main Street in Snellville when investigators say she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.

Gregory, who was in the car with her husband, slammed into the restaurant. The restaurant was full of patrons at the time.

“She confused the accelerator with the brake and, unfortunately, she ran into the building,” Gwinnett police Cpl. Deon Washington said. “She was just screaming and screaming.”

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Workers told Channel 2's Tony Thomas that the man who was killed in the crash, identified as 71-year-old Harry Gober, was a regular at the restaurant.

“I was standing there asking him if he was OK when she came in and I guess the wood just came around and trapped him,” waitress Jennifer Crankshaw said.

Authorities said Gober may not have died because of the accident. Police believe he died of some sort of medical condition, not from any potentially fatal trauma from the crash.

The restaurant reopened Friday. Waitresses said they remembered Gober as a quiet man who usually ate alone.

The crash remains under investigation.

Cox Media Group