Tractor-trailer crashes into homes in Carteret after driver suffers medical episode
CARTERET, New Jersey (WABC) -- Crews are on the scene after a tractor-trailer crashed into the back of a home in Carteret, New Jersey after the driver suffered a medical episode.
Officials say the truck left the roadway on Middlesex Avenue and went through two backyards and struck homes on Chrome Avenue.
NewsCopter 7 was above the scene where a giant truck was seen lodged through a back patio.
"Just a boom. Like a boom. Like I said, the trucks here are always making noises when they're pulling down things so you're thinking, 'oh it's one of them,'" said neighbor Casondra Brooks.
The truck was headed back to a nearby lot, but instead barreled through a fence and slammed into the homes.
Maria Arroyo lives in the home on the right, the one with the cab of the truck pressed up against her back door. She says when she saw it, she thought she was losing her mind.
"Oh my god. I'm crazy," Arroyo said.
The driver, who officials say suffered a medical episode, was unconscious when police arrived. They were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Officers had to break a window of the tractor trailer to get the driver out. The truck was still in gear with the driver's foot still on the accelerator pedal. Officials say the tires were spinning and burning when police arrived.
The truck was angled towards Julio Hernandez's home, right next door.
"I was scared because I thought it would run and continue into our house," neighbor Julio Hernandez said.
Several officers were injured due to broken glass and smoke.
Fortunately, no residents were injured.
Officials say the homeowner was in her kitchen at the time, and was located in the front of the home.
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