Just after 2 a.m. this morning a two-car collision led to one of the vehicles crashing into The Pass, the sandwich shop located at the intersection of Spring and St. Philip streets.
“According to the preliminary collision report, a Maserati was traveling West on Spring Street when the driver disregarded a stop light and collided with a Jeep that was traveling South on Saint Philip Street,” Charleston police public information officer Anthony Gibson said in a statement. “The Jeep overturned and the Maserati collided with the building.”
The driver of the Maserati was cited for reckless driving, and two individuals involved in the incident were transported to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Two others involved declined medical attention on the scene.
Official police reports were not available as of 12:30 p.m.
In an Instagram post early this morning, The Pass chef/owner Anthony Marini described the incident.
“We had quite the to-do down here at The Pass,” he wrote, noting that the shop will likely be closed Feb. 14 but that he’s working to make sure online and delivery services are running smoothly. “We love our customers and want to take care of them.”
Marini also told the City Paper he was not sure when he would be able to open again because he needed to get a structural engineer to look at the damage. He said the car hit the “sweet spot” of the wall — if it had been two feet in another direction, part of the building might have come down.
Opened in 2021, The Pass is an uber-popular deli, serving gourmet sandwiches 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. In a 2023 interview, Marini told the Charleston City Paper that part of his shop’s popularity is due to the nostalgia of a good sandwich.
“I think there’s a lot of people that still like that familiarity [of takeout],” he said. “We do a hell of a lot more takeout business than in-house business. That’s part of it. But I think people also just like the familiarity of having a good sandwich. … I think that sandwiches hold a very special place in people’s hearts.”
Customers and local business owners shared their support on The Pass’ Instagram page today and more than one astute commenter pointed out the irony of this morning’s incident.
“Man if this ain’t modern Charleston in a nutshell,” @onrichsporch commented. “A small locally owned business is trying to survive….and some … entitled dildo crashes a Maserati into it.”
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