Long Beach police say a high-speed, two-car crash in Bixby Knolls sent one of the vehicles careening into two nearby businesses.
The wreck happened at about 7:45 p.m. Monday at Roosevelt Road and Atlantic Avenue, according to Long Beach police.
They said a man driving a 2023 Tesla sedan was speeding southbound on Atlantic Avenue when he hit a 2012 Honda Accord that had made a left turn in front of him from the northbound side of Atlantic Avenue.
The crash caused the Tesla to veer off the road and roll over, ending up on its side inside Medcompounders Pharmacy and SALA Coffee & Wine bar at the southwest corner of the intersection.
Firefighters extricated the driver of the Tesla, which had crashed through a wall that the two businesses share, said Long Beach Fire Department Capt. Jack Crabtree.
SALA posted a photo of the damage on social media with a message that they would be closed “until further notice.”
Video footage from the scene showed glass and debris scattered throughout the pharmacy. A desk chair and office plant were also on the ground as one bystander tried to calm the Tesla driver, who was still in the vehicle.
The Tesla driver and the woman driving the Honda were both taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Blair Cohn, president of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association, said business owners and neighbors are “fed up” with speeding in the area.
He added that he and the board of the business improvement association will meet Thursday to discuss how to push for more speed enforcement in the area.
“This is one example of what’s happening everywhere,” Cohn said.
City officials have acknowledged that speeding is one of the major factors in Long Beach’s rising number of deadly crashes. They’re working on installing automated speed cameras — a years-long process that safety advocates have repeatedly complained is taking too long.
Impairment was not believed to have been a factor in Monday’s crash, police said.