13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Homeowner sleeps as vehicle hits home

Homeowner sleeps as vehicle hits home

Richard Essex/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - Sometime during the night, a car drove right into the side of a house while the owner of the home slept through all the commotion.

It happened on the city's east side in the 8600 block of East 37th Place in the early morning hours. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 8:00 am.

"I didn't know until I came outside and looked and saw the tire tracks," said Winnie Withers, homeowner.

At 7:30 Friday morning, Withers went into her living room and found bricks, glass and lumber all over her kitchen.

"I thought the wall fell in," Withers said.

But the gaping hole in her wall, according to the Indianapolis Fire Department, was caused by a hit and run driver. The car hit a tree in Withers' yard and then hit her house. Firefighters say had it not been for the tree, and had it not been a brick house, there is a good chance the vehicle would have ended up in Withers' bedroom, where she was sleeping.

Jason Turnbill lives in the neighborhood and was driving down the street early Friday morning. He says an older white Chevrolet Suburban was speeding away from the house..

"They fled around like they were trying to run from something," Turnbill said. "I couldn't see the passenger side of the car. By the time I looked over to see him, I heard the squeal of the tires and I saw the back end and the bricks fall off the car."

Within hours of Ms. Withers' discovery Friday morning, members from her church were on hand picking up bricks and loading up the mess and sealing the house up with plywood and plastic.

She'll be staying with a friend from church until her home is repaired. Firefighters with IFD's Collapse Rescue Team braced the structure Friday morning. Damage is estimated at $15,000.

Metro police believe the car has extensive damage, including airbag deployment and possible injury to the driver.