Fall River business owner asking for help after hit-and-run crash

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — A small business owner in Fall River is picking up the pieces after a car plowed through the fence outside her restaurant Monday night.

Faneek’s Coney Island co-owner Elizabeth Carpenter said it happened just after 5 p.m. — all caught on tape.

“I was just off on a nice little weekend getaway,” Carpenter said. “So I pulled in and the first thing that I saw was the fence down in the outdoor dining area.”

She said she went to check her surveillance cameras right away, which showed a car pulling slowly onto the sidewalk, not far from a pedestrian who tried to get the driver’s attention.

“At first I thought the car was pulling over because they knew who the person was that was walking,” Carpenter said.

Moments later, the car smashed through the fence into the garden area of the business.

Carpenter said another driver pulled up alongside and called to police, telling officers the person behind the wheel appeared to be elderly.

She said police told her they did not get a license plate, but detectives were still trying to track the driver down.

“We can’t just hit and run things,” Carpenter said. “When you ruin things, you need to go in and actually own that.”

Carpenter said the business has been there since 1966, and she and her husband have been co-owners since 2017.

“Small businesses right now are really, really struggling, in this economy with the holidays coming up,” she said.

“So whether it be somebody coming forward with a license plate to help me get my fence taken care of, that was put in in August,” Carpenter continued. “This is the time of the year where we can really, really use your support.”

ABC6 has reached out to the Fall River Police Department for an update on the investigation, but has not yet heard back.