A Mercedes Benz crashed into Michel Richard‘s restaurant Central at 11th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW around 6:20 p.m. yesterday, sending four people to the hospital, according to reports from the Post and WUSA9.

Police told the Post that the injured included three adult women and a 2-year-old child. (One of the adults appeared to be the driver, but it wasn’t clear whether the others were diners on the patio or passers-by.) The cause of the crash is unknown.

Richard’s spokesperson Mel Davis told Y&H the restaurant remained open last night after the crash and will continue with normal operations today. This morning, a cleaning crew was still picking up from the scene and a window in the front of the restaurant had been boarded up.

It’s been a pretty lousy two years for Richard’s restaurants. Citronelle was forced to close last July from water damage at its home in the Latham Hotel. (Richard announced last month that the restaurant will not reopen at that location, although he hinted at the possibility of reincarnating it somewhere else.)

On top of that, he’s had three more restaurants flop. Richard’s Tysons Corner restaurant Michel closed last February. Then Meatballs, mired in controversy over who really owned and operated it, closed in Penn Quarter last June. Most recently, in May of this year, Richard’s Atlantic City location for Central shuttered.

Let’s hope that his forthcoming New York bakery and restaurant fare better.

Photo by Jessica Sidman