Car Crashes into Grand Terrace Home

Grand Terrace police, firefighters and city officials were on scene the Friday morning before the Labor Day holiday investigating how and why an SUV with one occupant crashed into the garage of a home on Canal Street, damaging the garage's steel door, stucco around the garage and impacting a vehicle inside the garage. Reports from San Bernardino County fire department officials, witnesses and the homeowner corroborated there were no injuries to the home's residents, and the driver sustained very minor injuries. Captain Bryant O'Hara at the Grand Terrace fire station told the Grand Terrace City News that the driver of the SUV was taken to a nearby medical center via ambulance as a precaution. Sarah Williams, who lives at the home, was in her front room with her 2-year-old son, whom she stayed home to take care of after he woke with a fever. "I normally wouldn't have been home at that time," said Williams. She recalled the moment impact happened. "[My son and I] were sitting on the couch and we heard a loud noise and the whole house shook." A passerby knocked on Williams's door and she asked what happened. The passerby told her a car struck her home and urged her to call 9-1-1. Vincent Garcia, a neighbor who lives only blocks away from the home on the 11900 block of Canal Street, was driving past the property Friday morning and saw the silver-colored SUV already impacting the garage of the home. He said he witnessed two male subjects attempting to get the attention of the driver, who was still inside the vehicle. "The driver was either asleep or passed out," said Garcia, who said he recognized the driver. "I'd seen him before. He lives somewhere in the area." Garcia explained he pulled over to the scene and offered his help, knocking on the driver's side SUV window to grab the driver's attention. "When he finally woke up, he was very confused and didn't remember what had happened," Garcia said. "I asked him if he knew what had happened, if he knew he'd been in an accident. He didn't say anything and his eyes were rolling to the back of his head." Garcia said he and the other two men were eventually able to extract the driver from the vehicle. The driver then entered the home through the front door. "He was thinking he lived there," said Garcia. At that point, Garcia asked Williams, who was now standing in the yard, if the driver lived at the residence. When she told Garcia he did not, Garcia successfully led the driver away from the house to the grass area. "He was telling me he lived there, but I got him in the grass area. By that time, the fire department was there and I explained to them what happened." Garcia said he left the scene as firefighters spoke to the driver. During this time, the home's property manager Margie Miller was on scene to handle the situation. She spoke with tenants, sheriff's deputies, fire and city officials while the property owner, Joe Ramos, was en route. "Margie was absolutely on top of everything," said Ramos. "I am so glad to have her as my property manager. She was so great and handled everything fantastically." Ramos said Miller had already made several calls to the city requesting the city engineer come out to the property, inspect damage to the home and determine if the structure was sound. She also had Tom Comstock, a contractor and chairman of the Grand Terrace Planning Commission, on scene to help shore up the garage, said Ramos. Capt. O'Hara said the impact of the SUV to the home broke the garage's steel door and impacted a vehicle inside the garage. There was also stucco damage around the garage, said O'Hara, but the structure was deemed sound. The garage was deemed unsafe until further inspection by building and code officers, he explained. "The house is livable," said Williams. "Inspectors said it looked like the vehicle was headed into the kitchen, but the car did not enter the kitchen. There were no pipes hit or anything like that." Garcia said he saw the driver sustained a minor cut to his left eye in the collision, and in his opinion there was no sign of alcohol or substance usage by the driver but suspected medication could have been the reason behind the crash. Capt. O'Hara said safety officials are investigating why the crash occurred and that "tests would have to be run" because the driver "did not recall running into the home," he said. "Why he didn't recall, we don't know," said O'Hara. Williams, who has rented the home for several years and lives there with her husband and two children, said she felt something needed to be done about frequent speeding drivers in the area. Their home sits on the corner of the street, said Williams. "I hate how fast these cars come flying by," she said. "Hopefully a speed bump can be put in." And though it was a "scary situation," Williams said, the family has received support from their community in this difficult time. "Everybody has been super helpful. Our neighbors have been checking on us and helping out. It's nice being in Grand Terrace, with things like this."