CINCINNATI — Three people were taken to UC Medical Center Sunday morning after the car they were in crashed into another car before careening into a downtown sushi restaurant, Cincinnati police said.
It happened shortly before 4 a.m. at the intersection of West Sixth and Race Streets.
Following the initial crash, a Toyota SUV then crashed into Baru, a sushi and cocktail bar. Officers on scene told our crew one person needed to be extricated, while bystanders helped another person out and a third person was able to get out of the car on their own.
"I was in my room reading and I heard a loud boom, like the loudest I've ever heard, and then I looked out my window, saw the crash, called 911 at 3:44 a.m. Then I just started describing everything from my balcony," Courtney Brown said.
All three people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. There was an altercation in the area after the crash, but officers on scene said they're unsure if it was connected to the crash.
"People got out of the cars. Some started to run, some started to fight each other and the smoke was really bad," Brown said. "Like, I couldn't breathe, it was that bad."
Though police said the cause of the crash is under investigation, witnesses told our crew the cars were racing down the street before one lost control and crashed into the other. Witnesses also said this is the second time a car has crashed into the restaurant since 2024.
The city building department was called to the scene shortly after the crash. Both cars were towed away around 5 a.m.
