RSS Feed
Print Story
E-mail Story
Jeep crashes into house, pins woman under couch
| Sunday, Feb 4 2007 9:55 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Feb 5 2007 10:52 AM
A couch may have saved the life of a Bakersfield woman when a Jeep Cherokee smashed through the wall of her home early Sunday afternoon.
BAKERSFIELD.COM HOT TOPICS:
Loading Stories
Advertisement
Photos:
Bakersfield firefighters worked to rescue a women who was pinned under her couch by a vehicle that slammed into her house on Hoffman Avenue.
Emergency personnel carry out a woman who is in critical condition after a vehicle slammed through the front of her house and pinned her under her couch.
The woman, identified by police Glenda White, 58, was in critical condition at Kern Medical Center Sunday evening.
White was partially protected by the couch she'd been sitting on, police said.
The Jeep, driven by Justin Graham, 23, of Bakersfield, came to rest on top of the couch with White pinned underneath.
Firefighters carefully lifted the car with special airbags and long planks.
During the delicate unpinning, rescuers feared the Jeep might shift or ignite, said Battalion Chief Larry Toler of the Bakersfield Fire Department.
White was taken from the scene by ambulance on a stretcher with a backboard and neck brace. She spoke with rescuers as they readied her for transport.
The Jeep had jumped the east curb on Hoffman Avenue as it headed north on Akers Road toward Ming Avenue.
The vehicle busted through the wall of the corner house at 3818 Hoffman Ave.
No citations have been issued, but the case remains under investigation, Detective Greg Terry said.
The impact left a gaping hole in the wall. Debris covered the floor.
Neighbors were astonished by the extent of the impact.
"When I saw the big hole in the wall I was like: 'Wow,'" said Rosaura Saucedo.
Saucedo brought a glass of water to the passenger of the Jeep. She said the passenger told her she and the driver had been looking at something on her laptop when the accident occurred.
Saucedo said she and other neighbors were upset when police apparently let the driver go.
Someone could have been killed, she said. The driver, whom police did not identify, was a man who appeared to be in his early 20s, she said.
For a time, Graham sat in the back seat of a squad car, visibly upset. He periodically leaned his head against the metal grate as if he were crying.
Drugs and alcohol don't appear to have been a factor in the incident, police said.
The owner of the house, which was being rented by White, said he was surprised the Jeep nosed so deeply inside.
"There aren't even any brake marks," Sol Hicks said.
Police told him it would be two weeks before a report was ready, Hicks said. He estimated damage at between $80,000 to $90,000.
"I'd be freakin,'" said 20-year-old Jonathan Alvarez, Saucedo's son, of the accident. "Now I know not to buy a corner house."
Alvarez said people often speed along Akers Road. He has seen several other accidents in the area recently.
He was relieved to learn the young children he sometimes sees at the house weren't there at the time of the accident.
Another neighbor, Kenny Viss, heard a whomp and went outside.
"When I came to the house, I thought it exploded," he said, "until I walked around and saw the car inside."