Man Crashes Into Waffle House in Effort to Run Over Wife
A man from Panama City Beach, Fla., attempted to run over his wife by crashing into the Waffle House where she worked as a waitress.
The Panama City Beach Police, who were just across the street from the restaurant, arrested the suspect by the name of Charles Patrick O’Bryan and charged him with attempted murder and felony criminal mischief, according to police reports.
Having intentionally driven his 1987 Ford pick-up truck through the building in an attempt to run down his wife, Danielle Gibbens, who was working at the time, O’Bryan managed to get his wife injured.
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Upon ramming into the building with his truck, he got out of the vehicle, armed with a knife, and made threats toward his wife.
A witness told the Panama City News Herald that he attempted to restrain the driver with a broken piece of metal from the crash.
Robert Harding, Chief of Police at the Panama City Beach Police Department, told The Christian Post of new details emerging from what he called an “open and shut case.”
O’Bryan and his wife Gibbens were in the middle of a separation and had split a week or so prior to the incident, according to Chief Harding. The suspect, distraught over the upcoming divorce went to see his wife at her workplace when the entire event unfolded.
“There are some separations that go well and some that don’t. This is one of the ones that didn’t go well,” Harding stated to CP.
Police also learned that the wife was not struck by the vehicle, but struck by the debris from the crash. She had a broken nose, cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
Gibbens was taken to Gulf Coast Hospital for treatment.
Prior to the crash, O’Bryan had tried to contact his wife at the Waffle House, witnesses said in a statement.
But when he was not allowed to speak to her, he threatened an employee at the restaurant by saying he was coming to run his truck through the building and kill everyone, which he appeared to have attempted.
The Waffle House is currently under repair and may ask the defendant to pay restitution over the damages.
It is not known whether the wife will seek a restraining order.
