LYNNFIELD — Ben Pimentel, a 19-year-old from Lynnfield, was arrested after crashing into the side of School Street Foods in Lynnfield early Sunday morning.
Pimentel graduated from Lynnfield High School in 2025 and was the starting goalie captain of the school’s lacrosse team.
Pimentel was observed operating his car erratically on Route 1 North and ignored a Massachusetts State Trooper who signaled him to pull over before exiting the highway via the Salem Street ramp, where he would go on to crash into the restaurant, according to reports.
The teen was arrested and charged with operating under the influence, failure to stop, negligent operation, and various other charges. He will be arraigned on Monday at Peabody District Court.
No one was injured in the crash, and the investigation is ongoing.
According to a post by head chef and co-owner Javier Baez, he arrived at the restaurant at 3 a.m. to assess the damage.
The car entered through the side of the building, crashing through the wall into the dining area.
Before a press conference held at 4 p.m., building owner Eric Rubin said the building would be evaluated on Monday to determine the full extent of the damage. The building has been in the family for around 50-60 years.
Rubin stated that the car had hopped the curb near the Littlefield Real Estate building two doors down and took down signage at a small office building at 624 Salem St. before plowing through the fence that separates the entrance to the office and School Street Foods.
Co-owner Gina Goodwin said that an order for 100 pastelitos was received Sunday for Danvers State Police, and that they had responded to the call wanting to show support for the restaurant.
During the press conference, Baez said, “I received a call at 1:30 a.m. and was told someone had crashed into the building. I didn’t think it was going to be anything serious… and then I was told everything was done for. The lights were out. The basement was flooded. All our food was ruined.”
Baez said it broke his heart to see what had happened “because we had put so much time and energy into this business.”
He noted that Pimentel was going so fast that the restaurant’s camera captured only a second of the crash.
Co-owner Ed Goodwin said that one bad decision had screwed things up for the people working there.
“We’re down for probably six months. That’s just heartbreaking,” he said.
Gina Goodwin said that they were lucky the accident didn’t occur during business hours, as it would have led to multiple fatalities.
School Street Foods opened in 2024 and is located on Salem Street right next to the post office and Lynnfield Fire Station. On Saturday, the restaurant celebrated the opening of its second location in Methuen, just hours before the crash.
Gina Goodwin has been an active member of the community, and about 15 years ago, she began donating Thanksgiving meals to families and organizations in need. In 2025, she donated more than 25,000 Thanksgiving meals to local communities, packaged in 1,900 kits that fed 10 people each. She also gave away 4,000 single-serve ready-to-heat meals and approximately 75 free hot meals on Thanksgiving Day to local first responders and walk-ins.
This is the second incident in a little more than six months involving accidents with property damage in the immediate area. The new fire department headquarters was struck by a vehicle in October 2025, just days after the department began operating out of the building.
To help support the restaurant, provide stability for employees, transition employees to the new location, and cover multiple expenses while insurance claims are being processed, a GoFundMe called “Help Keep School Street Foods Alive” has been posted. The goal is to reach $25,000 of donations, with the restaurant currently at $1,920 as of press time.
