Overnight Car Crash through Wall Doesn't Stop this Bakery

Murray Kaplan had just gone to bed last night around 9:15 p.m. when his phone rang.

It was the police. They told him someone had crashed through the wall of his Reservoir Avenue bakery. .

"So I came back here," Kaplan said from behind the counter this afternoon.

Nearby, what once was a brick and cinderblock wall is now plywood and studs, covered outside by sheets of Tyvek. A sign is attached and announces the bakery is open and to "please use the other door."

"I didn't get home until 2 a.m. and I got up at 3 a.m., to come back here." Kaplan said.

Remember, bakers get up early in the morning.

The 17-year-old driver was being chased by Providence Police, Cranston Police and federal agents, according to reports.

The driver was taken into custody after attempting to flee the scene on foot. He reportedly crashed into a car containing two young women who suffered injuries and were transported to the hospital.

Murray Kaplan said an officer at the scene last night said the injuries did not appear to be serious.

It took about five hours to clean up and make the temporary repairs.

The driver also broke a water pipe within a heating unit that ran along the wall.

"They've done a great job to get us going, structurally it's fine and up to code," she said. "That's as far as step one."

Step two will be to make permanent repairs.

The bakery has been a city fixture on Reservoir Avenue since 1964. An earlier version of the bakery was in operation further down the street as early as 1915. Four generations of family have tended the shop through the years, Kaplan said.

Rainbow Bakery is the last Jewish bakery in Rhode Island, Kaplan said.

The crash was quite a mess for the Kaplans to clean up. And being bleary-eyed today hasn't been fun. But the owner of a business with such deep roots knows these things can happen.

"Hey, nobody was [seriously] hurt," Kaplan said.