Accused drunk driver slams into parked car, sending it careening down hill and into Mamaroneck home
MAMARONECK, New York (WABC) -- A wild scene unfolded on a quiet street in Westchester County, where an accused drunk driver slammed into a parked car, sending that vehicle careening into a nearby home.
The crash happened right before 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
The black car that had to be pulled out of Robin Howe and Glenn Backus' living room wall, just missed Backus. He was in his recliner watching TV when he heard the bang of a loud car crash, but the car wouldn't make its impact in their living room for another few seconds.
"Literally seconds, two or three seconds," Backus said. "That's all it was from when I got out of the recliner and went to walk out the front door to see what that bang was."
The initial crash sent that black car careening down a curved hill, where Palmer Avenue meets Mount Pleasant Avenue in Mamaroneck.
Surveillance video shows the car plowing right over a yield sign before sailing into the parking lot, that's only separated from the house by an ivy-covered fence. It couldn't absorb the whole impact, but the wall of the house did.
"You can see that the air conditioner would have landed on my legs," Backus said.
When they realized just how far and how fast that car had come before it bashed into the fence and their house, imagine their surprise to learn there was no one at the wheel.
"The police originally thought that somebody had fled the scene because there was no driver in the car," Howe said. "So, they were looking around, and then they got a call and said that they had like a head on crash up the street."
The black car had been parked up at the top of the hill. A young woman driving another car had rammed into it, causing that initial crash.
"Her airbag deployed, but she kept driving," Howe said. "But the ambulance did go up there and they said, 'yeah, she didn't go to the hospital.' She was fine. She was arrested."
Mamaroneck police confirmed that the driver was charged with DWI. Howe and Backus say it's not the first time a car has gone out of control on that curved hill.
"On two occasions, a car has come down, you know, with somebody driving and crashed into the house next door," Howe said.
They say the police tried to find the owner of the black car, since the damage will be a lot to explain to the insurance companies.
Somehow, there were no injuries.
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