Bentley, the Dog Who Could Drive a Car

Like a scene out of My Dog Skip, a boxer and Shar-Pei mutt on Long Island named, ahem, Bentley drove his owner's van into a coffee shop last night. When 60-year-old Bryan Maher went into Cool Beanz in St. James to sign up for a slot on their open mic night, he left the engine running in order to keep the pooch warm. Perhaps thinking the D was for "Doggie," Bentley then put the car into drive and crashed it into the coffee house, cracking its window and breaking some of the furniture out front.

Cool Beanz owner Patricia McCarthy was a good sport about the incident saying the "poor dog didn't know what was going on." She even let Maher keep his open mic slot! And Maher has promised Bentley a new coat for Christmas so that he can leave him in the car without any fear of a repeat incident, saying, "He's a smart dog - obviously, he can drive a van."

The Post notes that it was "not immediately clear if cops ticketed Bentley for driving without a license." And since there's no footage of the not-yet-made Air Bud: Indy Five-Houndred, here's a clip of Bentley in the van's driver's seat:

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Billy Parker in News on November 20, 2008 7:42 PM

Comments [rss]

robingee

The Boxer has very short fur. I don't think he should have kept the engine running, but how could anyone know that a dog could put a car into DRIVE, unless it was a very old car. Don't you have to have your foot on the brake to get a car out of park?

Jen Chung

@Scout1--Of course it could have been terrible, but everything ended up fine and Bentley's so cute! Even the coffee shop owner seemed amused.

bxbrian

This dog has Toonces envy...

JMH

It's nice that we can all laugh about this because all that happened was that a window and some patio furniture got broken, but it wouldn't have been quite so funny if somebody had gotten hurt or killed.

Pull My Finger

Sounds like everyone had a RUFF night.

r1b2

Wasn't there a Lindsay Lohan movie about this?

UnrepentantFenian

It is not illegal to leave a dog in a car.

Apparently Scout1 is another graduate of the AOL school of internet law.

Scout1

I don't understand how Gothamist is being so coy about this incident. It had the potential to be incredibly dangerous. Bentley is not a smart dog, he's a fucking idiot. He drove a van into a building. "You no lifesaver, you shithead". Do you realize how easily this situation could have been a million times worse?

And it's also illegal to leave you car running while you're not in it. And to leave a dog in a care.

MrManhattan

Hey,

At least he wasn't parking in the bike lane like a stupid American.

Editrixie

CR, what crazy lady?

"When 60-year-old Bryan Maher went into Cool Beanz in St. James to sign up for a slot on their open mic night, he left the engine running..."

moocowtoo

I'm with Scout1, WTF gothamist don't force your video on me.

CR

hey crazy lady running into the bar to get a slot at an open mic night: it's cold outside, but not that cold, and the dog *is* covered with fur and therefore better suited for cold weather than you are. You can save some gas, and not pollute the earth, by not keeping the engine running.

David McCaffredy

Don't forget the sequel - Air Bud: Driving to the BARKing lot.

Scout1

Please do not play videos automatically upon page loading. It's incredibly rude!

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

Hey that is a nice looking male dog. And good personality. I guess he is in the doghouse, but I hope for not too long.