Car smashes through wall of Jersey Freeze restaurant

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — It was back to business at an iconic New Jersey ice cream shop hours after a car went through the wall of the building Friday night.

Jersey Freeze co-owner Matt Cangialosi told New Jersey 101.5 that a 17-year-old girl was behind the wheel of a car that hopped the curb as she pulled into a parking space. She drove about 3 feet into the restaurant side of the building on Manalapan Avenue.

"The saving grace was that it was 10:40 at night and if it had been an hour earlier she would have taken out the line (of customers)," Cangialosi said.

The restaurant side closed at 10 p.m., so only a few employees were inside cleaning up. Nobody was hurt, he said.

Cangialosi said township police and firefighters responded and helped secure the building until 2 a.m. Saturday. He returned a few hours later with a construction crew after getting the OK to reopen.

"We are fully open for business. We actually opened on time," Cangialosi said. "We're operating as best we can till we redo the side of the building."

Freehold Township police did not immediately return a request for comment.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ