Barstow man arrested for driving truck into restaurant

BARSTOW • A 52-year-old Barstow man accused of driving a pickup truck through the front of Plata’s Mexican Restaurant on Armory Road Monday night has been arrested.

Gary Gasche was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and a hit-and-run traffic collision on the 900 block of Armory Road Monday night. Gasche was arrested at 10:16 approximately 20 minutes after a witness reported that a truck had hit the building. Gasche was released from the Barstow Jail at 11:03 a.m. on Tuesday.

The restaurant suffered major damage when the truck plowed through the building to the back wall and backed out, knocking over wall partitions, damaging stoves and kitchen equipment, according to owner Martha Gonzales. The front of the restaurant is currently boarded up and Gonzales said she is unsure how long it will take to reopen.