Vehicle crashes into Washington home
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
A sport utility vehicle rests against the porch of a Washington home Saturday evening.
A sport utility vehicle rests on top of a parked car and the porch of a Washington home Saturday evening.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
A sport utility vehicle rests on top of a parked car after striking a Washington house Saturday evening.
A sport utility vehicle sits on top of a Washington home's porch Saturday evening.
Richard Cox, of Washington, was sitting on a bucket on his porch Saturday evening when a sport utility vehicle crashed into it, just missing him, while also landing on top of a car occupied by a man and his two dogs.
“I could touch that (SUV) – that’s how close I was to it,” he said just moments after the crash.
Washington police and fire departments responded about 7 p.m. to Cox’s home at 457 E. Hallam Avenue.
Officer Roger Frazee said an SUV came down Wheat Avenue, failed to stop at a stop sign and became airborne after connecting with Hallam Avenue. The SUV then landed on an occupied parked car and struck the house, shifting the building from it’s foundation, Frazee said.
The man driving the SUV, who was not immediately identified, was taken by ambulance to an area hospital for minor facial injuries, Frazee said. He said nobody was inside the house at the time of the crash.
The person in the parked car, William Sarasnick, had just stopped by Cox’s home to drop off some dinner when the SUV landed on the hood of his car. He was sitting in the driver’s seat with his two dogs in the back. Sarasnick and his dogs were not injured in the incident.
“It landed right on top of me,” Sarasnick said, minutes after the crash. “I thought it came out of the sky. We’re both so lucky.”
Cox said he had been sitting on the porch talking to Sarasnick, who was in the car, when he heard a revving.
“I looked up and it was right there,” Cox said. “I was smart enough to stand up and back up. I jumped off the porch just in time.”
Cox said he had just put work into fixing up the house, and was “just getting ready to fix the porch, too.”
When the SUV struck the corner of the house, it not only damaged the porch, but also the foundation as it shifted the entire structure, according to emergency crews at the scene.
Washington County Emergency Management was called to the scene to help stabilize the house while the vehicles were removed.
Several of Cox and Sarasnick’s family, friends and neighbors arrived at the scene to make sure they were alright. Cox said while he’s facing a great loss with the amount of damage to his home, he’s lucky to be alive.
“I was thinking about going to church this Sunday, and then this happens,” he said. “God wants me here for a reason.”