The owner of a St. Paul bar and grill said one of her employees narrowly missed being hit when a vehicle slammed into the wall Friday, punching a hole in the concrete.

Nicole Cherry, owner of the Cherry Pit Bar and Grill located on the corner of White Bear and Minnehaha avenues on St. Paul’s East Side, said the impact sent a big chunk of concrete flying across the restaurant.

“My security guy had just gotten done putting the stools up at the table when she went through,” Cherry said. “He was very lucky.”

Cherry posted a video from her surveillance camera of the incident on Facebook. She said it happened about 2 a.m. The bar closes at 1 a.m. and the employees begin locking up at 2 a.m., she said.

The video shows an SUV going backward into a retaining wall and then lurching forward, just missing another car exiting the parking lot before slamming into the building.

Cherry was not at the bar at the time of the incident, but was called by her employees and arrived about a half hour later.

She said the woman driving the SUV had left the scene in another vehicle but had returned shortly after, telling police that her vehicle had malfunctioned. Cherry said the woman had been in the bar, but had not been served any alcohol.

UPDATE: Woman who crashed into Cherry Pit bar in St. Paul cited for leaving scene

“This is not a case of someone being drunk and losing control of the vehicle,” Cherry said. “She said it got stuck in the transmission. She had no control over it. It shot out and just took off on her.”

Cherry said the woman called her to apologize.

“She was very upset and concerned. She was very genuine. She was very worried about the people inside,” Cherry said.