‘That’s a car through our business’: Crossroads bar to reopen after Monday’s crash
Swordfish Tom’s owner Jill Cockson was at the speakeasy-themed cocktail bar Monday when she received an alarm notification.
The alert came from the Chartreuse Saloon, Cockson’s western-themed bar, billiard and game room in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District. The bar, which is nestled on a corner at the intersection of Oak and East 17th streets, is closed on Mondays.
“So I was like, “Huh?” That’s weird,” Cockson told The Star in a phone interview Monday.
At first, Cockson assumed the bar’s kitchen manager was coming into the establishment. The woman’s hands are often full when she enters the bar, she said, and can’t always get to the alarm on time.
“So I totally expected to see Emily walking in,” Cockson said.
Instead, Cockson pulled up footage from the bar’s video cameras to find a car had gone through the establishment’s front window.
“And I’m like, ‘Oh s—,’ like, ‘that’s a car, that’s a car through our business,” Cockson said.
The bar owner said first-responders were at the scene in minutes.
The Kansas City Fire Department responded to reports of a car accident at the Chartreuse Saloon around 4 p.m. Monday, where first-responders located a vehicle that had crashed through the front window of the business, battalion Chief Michael Hopkins previously told The Star.
The crash occurred after the driver experienced a medical emergency, Hopkins said. She was transported to an area hospital in stable condition, where she was evaluated for a “medical issue” and minor injuries sustained as a result of the crash.
Cockson made the five-minute drive from Swordfish Tom’s to the Chartreuse Saloon to assess the damage. Despite the car crashing through the front of her business, Cockson told The Star she was “grateful that it happened the way that it did.”
Damage to the business was strictly cosmetic. Had the driver of the car moved mere inches, Cockson said, the situation would have been different.
“Like, had she literally been eight inches to her left, a. she probably would have been in a much more serious situation medically for herself, and it would have been much more devastating to the business, because it would have been a structural blow to the building,” Cockson said.
As of Monday night, Cockson had already started repairs on the building. Because the damage was cosmetic, Cockson said Kansas City and the Kansas City Health Department had already signed off on the building to continue normal operations as long as the building was secure.
“No one was hurt super critically, I’m grateful that’s number one,” Cockson said.
The bar was expected to reopen Wednesday. Until then, the bar owner said she was making sure staff was taken care of for time lost.
Monday’s crash isn’t the first time Cockson has worried about similar incidents happening in the area, due to the bar’s location.
Cockson, who is a “fan of all things bike lane,” has seen bicyclists hit at the intersection while cycling behind parked cars.
“Like, just come stand down on that intersection at any day. I think it’s a scary intersection with a lot going on,” Cockson said. “You know bike lane, so like… I have thought about it in fact, it’s kinda funny, like, ‘how long before a car comes through this corner?’”
The best way to support the bar, Cockson said, is to “give us a couple days, [and] come out.”
“Support local businesses, immigrant owned businesses, local entrepreneurs, small businesses, like this is the best way to just support your community.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 7:48 PM.
