Car slams into house

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: November 21, 2008

A Honda Accord proved an unwelcome guest when it slammed into a Lake Ridge condominium around 8 p.m. Friday night.

No one was home at 12805 Cara Drive, just off Old Bridge Road, when the car plowed through the front door.

None of the five men inside the car was injured, but all were immediately handcuffed and placed face down on the ground by an unidentified police officer working an overtime detail in the neighborhood. He was sitting in a marked police car and witnessed the crash, said Prince William County police Sgt. Ken Hulsey.

Police gave the driver a sobriety test and later arrested him. The other four men were released.

Alcohol does appear to be a factor in the crash, Prince William police Officer Erika Hernandez said.

Because the men were handcuffed, neighbors initially thought the car was being chased by police.

Before hitting the house, the driver also hit another car parked on Elysian Drive.

“A silver Pontiac had its back door and side quarter panel smashed in,” said Heather Robbins, who also lives on Cara Drive.

The car took out most of the front wall of the house it hit. A wrecker crew struggled to winch the car from the house onto a flat bed truck, as an air conditioning unit remained lodged in the driver’s side
wheel well.

Tina Harris lives below where the car hit. She was sitting in her living room and heard a loud bang.

“My boyfriend went outside to check. When he came back he said, ‘You’ll never believe what happened out here,’” she said.

The crash caused water pipes in her home to burst, flooding bedroom closets, bathrooms and carpets.

“My carpets, when you walk on it, the water squishes and comes out of it,” Harris said.

Once the car was removed, fire crews boarded up the hole in the wall and began cleaning the street. Shivering neighbors looked on in mid-20 degree temperatures.

“This is an unusual night,” said one neighbor who asked not to be identified.

Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.