Car crashes into Bunker's restaurant

Polson Police responded to a report at around 5:45 p.m. last Wednesday, Nov. 25, that a vehicle had crashed into Bunker’s Bar and Grill at the Polson Bay Golf Course. Responding officers discovered that a late-model Ford F-150, driven by Edward Stasso, had smacked into the west-facing exterior of the restaurant.

According to Polson Police Chief George Simpson, a preliminary investigation indicates that Stasso had just left the nearby AutoZone after performing vehicle maintenance in the parking lot. Shortly after exiting the area, the vehicle’s brakes reportedly malfunctioned, causing it to strike the restaurant, which is located north of AutoZone. The impact damaged an exterior freezer unit and resulted in structural damage to the kitchen area.

The Flathead Tribal Police Department took over the investigation and has issued multiple citations related to the incident.

During the Polson City Commission meeting on Monday, city manager Ed Meece elaborated on the damage. He told commissioners the vehicle struck the walk-in cooler, forcing staff to shuffle food to other coolers and refrigeration units inside the facility.

“It was a pretty big mess,” he said. Fortunately, no one was in the cooler when the vehicle struck.

He expected to have a mobile cooler in place by the end of this week and hopefully resume serving a full menu. Meanwhile, they have a reduced menu comprised of light snacks and beverages and limited staff so they can still honor reservations at the golf simulator, which is housed inside Bunker’s.

They’ve had a contractor look at the damage and been in contact with their insurance representative. Meece estimated they could be relying on the mobile cooler for up to a month “so that we’ll be able to restore kitchen operations in a safe way.”