TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - A pickup truck driver was taken to the hospital after, officials said, they slammed into a Tamarac home, and the family who lives there said the vehicle came to rest partly inside a 2-year-old’s bedroom.
Surveillance video captured a Ford F-150 as it barreled down Northwest 23rd Avenue, at around 6 p.m., Wednesday.
Seconds later, it slammed into a home on Northwest 55th Street and 2-year-old Nathaniel’s bedroom, leaving a massive hole in the wall.
The toddler’s mother said she was at work when she got the alarming news.
“My neighbor, she called me, and she said, ‘Everything at your house is fine, don’t worry. Your baby is OK, your mother is OK, but car is crashed in your house,'” she said.
Fortunately, the woman said, her son wasn’t in his bedroom at the time. The boy and the rest of her family were in the back of the house when the sudden impact took everyone by surprise.
Brian Taveras said his mother was home with the toddler and the rest of the family when things were quickly disrupted.
“She was opening the door, and then the car just came in, and the door just came back and hit her, like the feet,” he said. “If she was to stay in the room three seconds after that, she would be dead.”
Speaking in Spanish, the child’s grandmother said it sounded like a bomb went off.
Neighbors came outside to find the truck partially inside the house. The vehicle’s tail-end sat on the front lawn.
“I couldn’t believe that there was a truck inside the house, and I start worrying, because I know the baby sleeps there,” said an area resident who identified herself as Desi.
Thankfully, no one inside the house was hurt.
“I’m very lucky because he didn’t get his nap today,” said the boy’s mother.
Several calls flooded 911 after the crash.
Security video captured an ambulance on the way to the hospital after first responders got the driver out of the truck. Broward Sheriff’s Office cruisers were also seen heading to the home.
The driver was transported to Broward Health Medical Center as a trauma alert. As of late Wednesday night, their condition was not known.
The child’s bedroom was destroyed, but his family and neighbors are grateful no one inside the home was injured.
“Thank God that my mom and my baby’s OK. Thank God,” said the boy’s mother.
The massive hole has since been boarded up.
The family said they’re able to live in a different part of the home as they prepare to make repairs.
“We’re waiting to see if the guy, he got insurance,” Taveras said.
Neighbors visited the home Thursday in disbelief of what had occurred the previous day and concerned about how a horrific incident could have happened here.
“It could have been us, I mean this could be our house right down the street,” said neighbor Richard Russo. “I mean, wow, this is very frightening.”
“You know, it’s a very short street, and it’s only like a residential neighborhood. I mean, they shouldn’t be going more than 20,” said neighbor Vicente Amarao, “so how fast could they be going that they couldn’t stop?”
“I know they have small kids as well as a baby, so it could be really serious. Hopefully, the guy that crashed into the home isn’t hurt too bad,” said neighbor Sam Pierre.
Officials have deemed part of the home unsafe, but the family is able to stay in another part of the house, for now.
“An inspector was here yesterday,” Taveras said. “He was checking to see if the house was stable to stay, so he said yes.”
Officials said the driver is expected to be OK and charges are pending.
“When it’s not your time for death, it’s not your time to go,” Taveras said. “She was, literally, seconds to death.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
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