Out-of-control garbage truck smashes into parked cars and home in New Jersey
NEW MILFORD, New Jersey (WABC) -- An out-of-control garbage truck smashed into three parked cars and a home in New Jersey.
It happened on Tuesday morning around 7:12 a.m. along the 200 block of Eagle Avenue in New Milford.
Video from a deli up the street shows the crew on the back of the garbage truck jump off the rear to collect trash bins, and then the driver jumps out to help. When he does, the truck takes off on its own, without anyone inside.
The 46-year-old driver of a garbage truck said that he put the vehicle in park and then got out to assist with garbage pickup.
That's when he noticed that the truck started to roll away.
He apparently tried to get back in, but the door was locked.
The truck clipped Meghrig Arakelian's car, jumped the sidewalk and slammed into her mother and sister's vehicles parked in the driveway of their home on Eagle Avenue.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
"We're counting our blessings. It could have gone so horrifically wrong. It was inches from the gas meter... that's why we were told to leave the house," said New Milford resident Marie Rose.
First responders raced to the scene, and rushed the family out of the house just in case the gas main was dangerously damaged. But also outside, their neighbors made sure Rose and her daughters were OK.
"Everybody came out. They were like, 'we can't believe this.' I can't shout out enough the deli over there, they really just ran over, they wanted to make sure we were OK," Meg Arakelian said.
A utility crew checked the gas main. It was fine. So was the structure of their home. So, the family was allowed back inside, but they are down two cars. The third is damaged but drivable.
"Being down one car, maybe you can do, but being down two cars, we all have different schedules and different jobs, and that's affecting our livelihood," Rose said.
As they wait for insurance companies to sort this all out, the family has created a GoFundMe page to help with expenses.
The driver received four summonses for delaying traffic, leaving the vehicle with the engine running, reckless driving, and careless driving.
The investigation was unable to determine if the vehicle slipped into gear or it was operator error.
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