Priest Crashes Into Restaurant, Arrested For DWI

A priest is charged with DUI after crashing the pickup truck he was driving into a restaurant.

Father Karel Fink, the pastor of St. Paul Parish according to the Diocese of Austin, was arrested Monday night for drunk driving.

From the outside, plywood covers up the physical damage at the La Cabana Restaurant. But broken tables, chairs and overturned booths inside tell a much scarier, emotional story.

Fink crashed into the restaurant, according to the Diocese, around 7 p.m.

Restaurant owner Gina Chronis says everyone was in shock.

"I was livid. I did not know that he had been drinking,” Chronis said. “Obviously, I didn't know he had problems. Personally it was a shock to me to find out that it was our Father."

Six people were injured, including Christie and Megan Mick.

"Everyone was screaming, glass was flying,” Megan Mick said. “No one knew what was happening. People were on the floor and stuck and yelling. It was really scary."

"We didn't know if it was a bomb or what it was at first,” Christie Mick said. “I just remember the glass flying and my kids screaming and us moving across the restaurant."

According to the Diocese of Austin, the 61-year-old priest had just been released from rehab a few weeks ago after being treated for alcoholism.

The Diocese says Bishop Gregory Aymond will decide what should happen next involving Father Fink when Aymond returns from an out of town trip.

The Catholic Diocese says Father Karel Fink was ordained in 1991 in the Diocese of Austin. He has been pastor in Smithville for more than nine years.