Driver Who Crashed into Adams Township Restaurant Dies

A Valencia man who lost control of the car he was driving and slammed into three parked cars before striking Jimmy’s Strip District Grille in Adams Township Friday has died.

Charles McClymonds, 73, died of blunt force trauma to the trunk, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said. He was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. Friday at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh, where he was taken after the collision.

Adams Township Police said McClymonds was driving on Mars Valencia Road at about 11 a.m. Friday when he veered off road and across the front lawn of a home before entering the parking lot of Jimmy’s Strip District Grille.

He struck three unoccupied cars in the parking lot before knocking over several pillars in front of the restaurant. While the car hit the building, it did not enter it.

Whether McClymonds suffered a medical issue before losing control of the vehicle is unknown. No obvious issues were found in an autopsy, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Restaurant owner Jimmy Leahy called it a “miracle” Friday that no one else was injured. He said it sounded like an explosion when McClymonds crashed into the cars in the parking lot before stopping against the building.

Leahy, whose own car was one of the ones damaged in the parking lot, added there were more than 30 people in the restaurant finishing up their breakfast when the car hit the building.

He believes that if the driver hadn’t hit the cars in the parking lot first, the car would have gone into the restaurant.

“It’s a miracle,” he said. “It’s just a miracle no one was outside.”

The restaurant remained open after the crash. For the full story from Friday’s incident, click here.