Family Escapes Harm As SUV Crashes Into Newark Home
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- It was a close call for a Newark woman and her grandson Thursday night.
An out-of-control SUV went airborne and ended up crashing through the front of their house, but the situation could have been much worse if it happened just a few minutes earlier.
Inez Hurston still can't believe she and her 2-month-old grandson, Tyler, survived the crash without a scratch. The Nissan Pathfinder tore into the baby's bed, barely missing them.
"Not even a second, I stepped into the second room bedroom and heard a boom and I looked and the truck was in the house," Hurston told CBS 2's Christine Sloan.
The driver took down several parking meters as she jumped a sidewalk, speeding toward the house leaving skid marks.
The car even took out part of a parking meter up the road. Police said the car traveled up home's embankment, flying seven feet into the air into the first floor while missing the ground level.
When Sloan asked what the driver did after the crash, Hurston said she was panicking.
"She was screaming 'Help me, help me. I can't breath,' so I tried to keep her calm," she said.
The driver and passenger were taken to the hospital. Hurston's daughter came home frantic moments after the crash.
"The only thing I could think of was my family. My son was in there with his grandmother like it was nothing I could do," Jasmine Hurston said.
But three generations inside on the home on Wickliffe Street, including her own grandmother, were all okay. For the family, it's an early Christmas gift.
"We're very blessed. We know that we're very blessed," Hurston said.
The Hurstons have packed up what they can to stay with family. Despite not having a home, they're thankful they have each other.
Newark Police have not released any information on why the accident happened or if charges will be filed. Some witnesses reportedly said the driver claimed her gas pedal was stuck.
The cause remains under investigation.
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