Reading PA Fire Department

Just after 02:00 this morning, Engine 3, Ladder 1 and Car 3 were dispatched to an Automatic Fire Alarm at the Speckled Hen Restaurant at 30 So. 4th Street. Arriving on location, Engine 3 noted police activity in the block and then reported a car into the front of the restaurant. Crews checked the vehicle. The driver had fled the scene and there were no other passengers. No fluids were present and the vehicle was stabilized. After checking and disabling the alarm system inside the restaurant, apparatus left the scene.

The crash was the result of the operator's high speed drive through the city. Police witnessed the driver and began following him about a block before the crash. Police later caught the driver and the vehicle was checked as possibly stolen. The crash into the restaurant severely damaged the front of the historic building, the former Widow Finney's Restaurant dating back the the 18th Century. The building inspector was called to the scene to check the structure.

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