The dog's name might be Bentley, but this pooch likes to drive a Ford.
Bentley, a boxer and Shar-Pei mix recently rescued from the pound, gave his master and the patrons of a Long Island coffee shop quite the fright last night when he popped an idling van into drive and took it for a short ride into the shop's front window.
"I ran inside the coffee house to sign up for open-mike night, and I left my car running because it's cold outside and I didn't want my dog to freeze," said Bryan Maher told the Daily News. "The next thing I knew, I looked up to see my van coming at me in the window, with Bentley in the driver's seat grinning at me."
Luckily, the canine joyride left no one hurt. The crash only cracked the front window of Cool Beanz in St. James, smashed some lawn furniture, and caused minor damage to the '92 Ford Van.
Despite the damage and the scare, Cool Beanz owner Patricia McCarthy couldn't be angry at Maher, whom she offered a gig on Saturday night. She couldn't blame his wide-ranging rover either.
"Aw, Bentley was wagging his tail afterward," McCarthy told the News. "He really is a sweet dog."
As for Maher, he's learned his lesson.
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"This is the first and last time I'll ever put the car in park," he said. "He's a smart dog - obviously, he can drive a van."
