TEMPE, Ariz. — Just three days after the first Black-owned wine bar in Arizona celebrated its grand opening, it was forced to close after being hit by an alleged drunk driver.
The Chic Chef 77 wine bar opened on Wednesday, Feb. 8, on East Apache Boulevard in Tempe. Around 2:25 a.m. on Saturday morning, an alleged drunk driver struck the building, destroying a part of the patio and damaging windows.
"I was at home sleeping when it happened. I got a call around six o'clock this morning. And it was continuous phone calls," said Chic Chef 77 owner Nik Fields.
No one was at the bar when the crash occurred and no one was injured in the incident. Fields arrived back at the restaurant in the morning after talking to the police.
"When I saw it, it was just tape everywhere, there was glass everywhere. My property management company was cleaning up all the glass and everything, it just looked like a mess," she recalled.
Fields said that the driver fled the scene after the crash, but police later arrested them.
"I feel devastated. I feel severely impacted financially. This is Super Bowl weekend. We opened two days ago. And this was supposed to be a special time for us to open not to mention it's Black History Month. So we had jam-packed events for the entire weekend," she shared.
"These are opportunities that we can't get back. So for someone to be so, you know, irresponsible not to be able to control their liquor or to hold their liquor. I just want them to know it doesn't only impact me - It impacts my customers. It impacts me financially it impacts me... mentally. It's like when you're in a headspace that you're going to start this business and it's halted not by your own fault, but by someone else's, it's a little bit harder to swallow," Fields added.
Fields also pointed out that her employees would also be impacted financially, possibly even losing thousands of dollars in tips over the Super Bowl weekend.
While it was a big blow to Fields and her staff, she is happy that no one was hurt. If the crash would have occurred several hours earlier, there would have been 20 or more people on the patio where the car struck the building.
"I hope this was an eye opener to them to know, not to drive drunk, but also how your actions again impact other people negatively," Fields said of the drunk driver.
Tempe police said officers were able to locate the suspect and place him under arrest for hit-and-run and DUI.
No exact date is set for when Chic Chef 77 will reopen, but Fields is hopeful that it will be soon. "We're thinking positive that we can open within the next few days or so," Fields said.
Learn more about impaired driving here.
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