Watch this teen smash his truck into an SC restaurant and leave a trail of wreckage

Luckily nobody was at the Cancun Mexican Restaurant in Piedmont Saturday when an 18-year-old driver smashed his pickup truck into the front of the building before driving away from the wreckage and rubble.

If they were, much more than a building would have been damaged.

The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and was captured by the restaurant’s surveillance cameras.

They show a shocking collision between the building, located on Highway 86, and a 2009 Ford F-250 pickup truck driven by 18-year-old Christopher Redding.

Redding’s truck was heading east on SC-86 when it ran off the road and smashed into the front of the restaurant. In the surveillance video, which the owner of Cancun Mexican Restaurant shared on Facebook, Redding is seen pulling out of the front of the building before driving away.

The Piedmont resident was later located.

Redding has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving, operating an unsafe vehicle, improper tires, according to South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper Justin Sutherland.

The owner of the restaurant originally offered a $500 reward for information on the truck driver’s identity. Once Redding came forward, the owner decided not to press charges against him for the damage to the building.

Instead, the owner is only filing an insurance claim for the property damages, wyff4.com reported.

The owner said several people were able to identify Redding before he came forward, according to foxcarolina.com. The owner got in touch with Redding on Facebook, and he came to the restaurant saying he was afraid of what would happen.

While Redding is getting an early Christmas gift, perhaps the best news for the restaurant owner was the way the community rallied to support the business after it was reported on Facebook.

By 4 p.m. Saturday, less than 12 hours after the significant collision, the damage to the building had been fixed and Cancun Mexican Restaurant was open for business as usual Sunday.

“Thanks to everyone for your help! thanks to our Facebook followers, shares and local news the young man responsible has come forward and took responsibility for his actions,” the owner wrote in a Facebook post. “After a long day of clean up we will re open tomorrow Sunday at normal business hours! Thanks again everyone!”

This story was originally published November 26, 2017 at 5:18 PM.