From Chris Murphy 01634 686 515
This is the spectacularly devastating result of a bizarre crash which saw an SUV plough into the UPSTAIRS of a house BOTTOM FIRST landing VERTICALLY.
The driver from Wisconsin is in custody, said police, after treatment when he FELL TO THE GROUND getting out.
It was left to a towing expert to carefully extra the car from 15 feet up without dragging down the rest of the house.
Fox 9 reports it happened in Newburg, Wisconsin.
Jaymon Ingelse of Lanser Garage and Towing, who helped remove the vehicle from the house said he has never seen anything like it.
He told the station: It was pretty unique. We've done a lot of specialised removals, but never a vehicle that was vertically standing inside a home.
The police said Alva Richards, 35, of Waubeka, is now charged with one count of second degree recklessly endangering safety and one count of drug possession.
If a court finds him guilty he could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $25,000.
A criminal complaint filed in Ozaukee County says the crash happened around 2am on June 28 in the Village of Newburg.
It was a neighbour who initially raised the alarm after hearing a loud bang and spotted the car embedded in the upstairs window and wall of a home in West Hawthorne Drive.
The minivan was lodged vertically in the home about 15 feet off the ground, said police.
An investigation has now determined the van left the road and hit a stone embankment surrounding the home at a high speed, which launched it into the home.
"The engine was in the attic and the front bumper went through the exterior roof," Inglese told the channel.
"The rear bumper was on the bedroom floor joist."
Incredibly, the homeowner was in the bedroom at the time and was coated in debris and vehicle fluids, including hot oil, but was amazingly not hurt.
When police arrived, the driver was still in his seat, and only moved when called. He then opened the door and fell the 15 feet to the ground below.
Fox said Richards told police he "smokes marijuana every day". In hospital, he was tested for drugs, but no result has yet been released.
Richards also told investigators he suffers from seizures, but the last one was in May.
To remove the van from the home, Ingelse says they had to lift the van about six inches with a tow and then pivot it out, taking about an hour.
Ends
