Porch of Bluffton’s Corner Perk damaged after car crashes onto sidewalk Saturday night
Corner Perk Brunch Cafe and Coffee Roasters opened Sunday morning — business as usual — despite a car plowing through its front porch and breaking a front window the night before.
“We’re still ticking,” said owner Josh Cooke the morning after the incident. “I’m thankful. Glad no one was hurt.”
The crash happened just before 11 p.m. Saturday when a driver heading east toward the four-way stop on May River Road crashed onto the sidewalk, hitting the cafe’s front porch, said Sgt. Bonifacio Perez with the Bluffton Police Department. The driver was not injured in the crash and, after being examined by Beaufort County EMS, was taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center where he was charged with driving under the influence.
Cooke, who has owned Corner Perk for 14 years and has spent the last nine years at the Old Town Bluffton location, did not see the impact of the crash on his storefront until Sunday morning. Once there, he saw that a window and concrete planter were smashed, and that metal tables and chairs where customers usually enjoy their coffee or baked goods from the cafe were bent and mangled. The crash, said Cooke, could have been “a lot worse,” and he is overcome with gratitude that it was not.
Unfortunately, Cooke said, this is not the first time a car has impacted Corner Perk. About nine years ago, two weeks from its grand opening in Old Town Bluffton, the area outside the building was hit by a drunk driver. At that time, a vehicle “plowed straight through” a stop sign and hit a fire hydrant.
Luckily, he said, the damages were not catastrophic and he has “dodged a bullet twice,” but the issue of drinking and driving is serious.
“I want to encourage people to get an Uber if they’re out drinking and be careful and safe,” Cooke said. “Who knows what could’ve happened? [The crash] could’ve hurt someone or impacted our business for months.”
The Town of Bluffton’s Public Service Department, Cooke added, was at the cafe helping to clean up the debris early Sunday morning.
“We have to redo our front porch, but it’s an opportunity to redo it in a different way,” he said. “We opened at 7 a.m., like always. Now we have to take care of our team and be there for the community.”
The driver was released from the Beaufort County Detention Center as of Sunday.
The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette do not name those charged with misdemeanor crimes unless they are in a position of public trust or authority in the community.
