Last Friday, an SUV that had been reported stolen in Cedar County crashed into a gay bar called Mary’s on Second Street in Davenport just after 2:30 am. The SUV was reported stolen on March 30 and no arrests have been made yet. One employee was reported to have been inside the bar at the time but was luckily not injured, although the building has serious structural damage.
The owners of the stolen vehicle claimed to have a spare key in the car but also stated that the car was locked so they do not know how it was stolen. Police are still unsure who the car was stolen by and who was in the vehicle at the time of the crash. Officers say that everyone inside of the car fled from the scene.
Just a few months shy of marking 18 years in business, Mary’s owner Bobby Stansberry says he cannot believe he is in this situation. Stansberry was sleeping when he got the call Friday morning that he never would have expected. He said, “Well you know, when you get woken up and someone says a car ran into your business you’re like what?” Stansberry remains optimistic and stated, “Mary’s has survived floods and it will survive this, Mary’s has always been strong and it will survive this. It’ll continue.” One colleague working at the bar said that the when the SUV crashed through the front door, “it missed one of the main supports by inches.”
Stansberry is thankful that nobody was hurt in the incident and that the one employee who was working at the time took a break; otherwise he would have been standing where the SUV crashed into the building.
Alma Harris was sleeping next door when she woke up to the sound of the SUV crashing into the building. “I was scared because it could be mine next, it could be anybody’s next,” said Harris. “The way they just steal cars and do what they do around here, it wouldn’t surprise me if it happens again.”
At this point, it is just a waiting game to see what exactly is going on that what it is going to take to rebuild Mary’s. It is still unsure if this was a hate crime or just a driver under the influence.
