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Brockton Restaurant Owner Wants Change After Building Hit 6th Time

BROCKTON (CBS) - If you ever happen to swing by Heidi's Place in Brockton, you'll find home fries and omelets on the grill and depending on your timing you may discover a car through the building.

"I can't believe this! This is the sixth time," owner Alex Kosmidis exclaims. Kosmidis owns the restaurant with his mother. He says Heidi's Place on Warren Avenue has been hit six times in the past five years. "I'm angry. They keep hitting my building," he said.

On Monday a 19-year-old slammed into the side of the restaurant after hitting a pickup truck. "It's the speeding and all the traffic," Kosmidis said.

Alex Kosmidis
Alex Kosmidis, owner of Heidi's Place in Brockton (WBZ-TV)

Faithful patrons who have been coming for years know all about it. "I think they have big, big ugly stretch of bad luck," patron Louis Porter said.

The restaurant has been here for more than 40 years. The city did install stop signs on the cross streets to slow traffic down.

"I believe that the appeal though that has to go to the community, is that people need to start paying more attention on the roadways," Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues said.

Heidi's Place
A car struck Heidi's Place in Brockton (WBZ-TV)

Alex says all these accidents have hurt the family business. In some cases they've had to shut down for weeks.

"Now we have this stigma of six times. Do you want to go eat at a place hit six times?" he asked.

Kosmidis is so fed up with all the accidents that have happened to his place that this year he decided to run for city councilor at large to see if he can do something about it. "I've complained enough as a concerned citizen and I want to see some changes," he said.

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