Christopher Joseph Zotta, 26, of Pacific has been charged with two felonies after he allegedly drove a car through a front window of Poor Richard’s Restaurant and Sports Bar, 108 Hilltop Village Center Drive, in Eureka on Wednesday night (March 27), leaving three customers injured, authorities reported.
On Thursday (March 28), Zotta was charged with driving while intoxicated-serious physical injury, a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, and leaving the scene of an accident-physical injury, a class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
He posted a $25,000 bond and was released Thursday, a St. Louis County Jail spokeswoman said today (March 29).
Court records show he was scheduled to appear in court this morning.
The accident occurred at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, when Zotta allegedly backed a 2010 Kia Soul through a front window to the left of the restaurant’s entrance, striking the three people as they sat at the bar, the report said.
Charles K. Messmer, 38; Mark Robinson, 55; and Pamela L. Doetzel, 54, all of Eureka, were injured. Messmer was transported to Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur, and Robinson and Doetzel were transported to SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton.
As of Thursday afternoon, Messmer was listed in satisfactory condition, a Mercy spokeswoman said.
Robinson and Doetzel were treated and released, a St. Clare Hospital spokeswoman said.
Zotta allegedly registered nearly triple the legal limit for blood-alcohol content and was arrested, Capt. David Wilson said.
There was no structural damage to the restaurant building, said Scott Barthelmass, public information officer for the Eureka Fire Protection District.
An employee at Poor Richard’s said the restaurant was still open Thursday.
Officers pulled over Zotta a few miles from the restaurant on Meramec Boulevard, and after he refused to take a field sobriety test, he was arrested and transported to the Police Station. At the station, he allegedly registered .223 percent blood-alcohol content, the report said. The legal limit in Missouri is .08 percent.
Zotta had been in the restaurant earlier in the evening. He had ordered food and had drinks at the bar, witnesses told police.
“He did not have a confrontation with anyone inside the restaurant to make us believe he intentionally backed into the building,” Wilson said.
When Zotta got into his car, he allegedly lost control, sped backwards across the parking lot and over the sidewalk before going through the building’s window, the report said.
Witnesses reportedly followed the Kia and updated police about Zotta’s location before Eureka Police pulled him over, according to the report.
“They assisted us in the capture,” Wilson said.