NEAR FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) — Police are searching for a driver who, they said, crashed through a home’s living room near Fort Lauderdale and took off.
According to officials, the driver of a Toyota pickup truck slammed through the house on Southwest 44th Avenue and 18th Street, before dawn, Wednesday morning.
The vehicle entered the home through the living room, with a family of three inside. Luckily, the family was in another room at the time.
7News spoke with area resident Shannon Parks, who lives across the street from the home.
“Don’t know what happened. He had to have turned straight into the house,” she said.
Parks said she called 911 after hearing the crash and watching the driver take off.
“The truck was in their living room with the back end sticking out,” said Shannon Parks, “and he was trying to reverse, and he was peeling wheels and burning rubber.”
Parks went on to say the silver or gray truck fled eastbound on 18th Street. “He got loose and reversed out and headed down 18th. He had a big piece of drywall on his windshield, and that is now sitting in the middle of the road down there, and then he just raced down 43rd Way.”
According to Parks, a young woman, her boyfriend and daughter were inside the home at the time of the crash. “They were OK; they came out of the back bedroom, and they’re like, ‘We’re OK,’” she said, ” and I said, ‘OK,’ and I was on the phone with 911. They just kept me on the phone and got their police on their way.”
The driver took off before police arrived, but authorities said the vehicle’s front bumper was left behind.
“I don’t know if he was intoxicated or what was going on there,” said Parks.
No injuries were reported. However, the family did have to stay at a friend’s house overnight due to the structural damage to the home.
If you have any information on this hit-and-run, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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