Car Crashes into Grand Terrace Home

Grand Terrace police, firefighters and city officials were on scene the Friday morning before the Labor Day holiday investigating how and why an SUV with one occupant crashed into the garage of a home on Canal Street, damaging the garage's steel door, stucco around the garage and impacting a vehicle inside the garage. Reports from San Bernardino County fire department officials, witnesses and the homeowner corroborated there were no injuries to the home's residents, and the driver sustained very minor injuries. Captain Bryant O'Hara at the Grand Terrace fire station told the Grand Terrace City News that the driver of the SUV was taken to a nearby medical center via ambulance as a precaution. Sarah Williams, who lives at the home, was in her front room with her 2-year-old son, whom she stayed home to take care of after he woke with a fever. "I normally wouldn't have been home at that time," said Williams. She recalled the moment impact happened. "[My son and I] were sitting on the couch and we heard a loud noise and the whole house shook." A passerby knocked on Williams's door and she asked what happened. The passerby told her a car struck her home and urged her to call 9-1-1. Vincent Garcia, a neighbor who lives only blocks away from the home on the 11900 block of Canal Street, was driving past the property Friday morning and saw the silver-colored SUV already impacting the garage of the home. He said he witnessed two male subjects attempting to get the attention of the driver, who was still inside the vehicle. "The driver was either asleep or passed out," said Garcia, who said he recognized the driver. "I'd seen him before. He lives somewhere in the area." Garcia explained he pulled over to the scene and offered his help, knocking on the driver's side SUV window to grab the driver's attention. "When he finally woke up, he was very confused and didn't remember what had happened," Garcia said. "I asked him if he knew what had happened, if he knew he'd been in an accident. He didn't say anything and his eyes were rolling to the back of his head." Garcia said he and the other two men were eventually able to extract the driver from the vehicle. The driver then entered the home through the front door. "He was thinking he lived there," said Garcia. At that point, Garcia asked Williams, who was now standing in the yard, if the driver lived at the residence. When she told Garcia he did not, Garcia successfully led the driver away from the house to the grass area. "He was telling me he lived there, but I got him in the grass area. By that time, the fire department was there and I explained to them what happened." Garcia said he left the scene as firefighters spoke to the driver. During this time, the home's property manager Margie Miller was on scene to handle the situation. She spoke with tenants, sheriff's deputies, fire and city officials while the property owner, Joe Ramos, was en route. "Margie was absolutely on top of everything," said Ramos. "I am so glad to have her as my property manager. She was so great and handled everything fantastically." Ramos said Miller had already made several calls to the city requesting the city engineer come out to the property, inspect damage to the home and determine if the structure was sound. She also had Tom Comstock, a contractor and chairman of the Grand Terrace Planning Commission, on scene to help shore up the garage, said Ramos. Capt. O'Hara said the impact of the SUV to the home broke the garage's steel door and impacted a vehicle inside the garage. There was also stucco damage around the garage, said O'Hara, but the structure was deemed sound. The garage was deemed unsafe until further inspection by building and code officers, he explained. "The house is livable," said Williams. "Inspectors said it looked like the vehicle was headed into the kitchen, but the car did not enter the kitchen. There were no pipes hit or anything like that." Garcia said he saw the driver sustained a minor cut to his left eye in the collision, and in his opinion there was no sign of alcohol or substance usage by the driver but suspected medication could have been the reason behind the crash. Capt. O'Hara said safety officials are investigating why the crash occurred and that "tests would have to be run" because the driver "did not recall running into the home," he said. "Why he didn't recall, we don't know," said O'Hara. Williams, who has rented the home for several years and lives there with her husband and two children, said she felt something needed to be done about frequent speeding drivers in the area. Their home sits on the corner of the street, said Williams. "I hate how fast these cars come flying by," she said. "Hopefully a speed bump can be put in." And though it was a "scary situation," Williams said, the family has received support from their community in this difficult time. "Everybody has been super helpful. Our neighbors have been checking on us and helping out. It's nice being in Grand Terrace, with things like this." [END] DETAILS: Car crashed into a house in Grand Terrace on Friday morning, Sept. 4, 2015. 11948 Canal St., Grand Terrace. Joe & Helen Ramos - Home Owners Tenants were not injured Driver was taken by ambulance with minor injuries No gas or water leaks. From Margie - Tenant said the car hitting the house "felt like an earthquake." *************************************************************************************************** QUESTIONS TO ASK JOE: 1. Would you say Margie, as the property manager, had everything under control? Oh Yes. 2. Would you say Margie handled the situation well? Oh yes, very well. I'm so glad I have her as a property manager. She did such a great job, just fantastic. 3. Did you feel impressed by and appreciate what Margie had done by the time you arrived at the scene? Oh yes. 4. Would you say Margie is an excellent property manager? Yes, fantastic. 5. Anything else you'd like to say? "Margie was on scene before I got there. Overall, everyone is OK, except for the driver, who had minor injuries. The sheriff was on scene and the ambulance that took the driver was already gone (when I arrived). "(Margie) had already made several calls to the city, was handling the situation. The city is closed on Fridays so their contract on-call City Engineer came out to check the building out. I left about 20 minutes ago (~12:30) and he was still there. They needed to determine if the structure was sound to keep the tenants there. It looks like it will be, but I don't know for sure. "Tom Comstocke was also there, shoring the garage door up. There were some 2x4s split in the garage. Later the towing company will come to tow the SUV out and Tom will get some 4x8 sheets to put up at the garage door. It's badly damaged. "Margie and Jim left about 20 minutes ago, when I did, but Margie said to have Tom call her when the towing company gets there to tow the SUV out. "There was a van and a motorcycle in the garage, too. I did not see it, but the rear bumper and tailgate of the van was damaged." *************************************************************************************************** INTERVIEW WITH VINCENT GARCIA, PASSERBY/GT RESIDENT/NEIGHBOR: From Margie - Vincent, in his opinion, felt as if the driver had a diabetic issue *Tell him you got his info from the Property Manager "I was just driving by and I noticed a gray car smacked into the garage of a house. I saw that there were already two males trying to get the driver's attention because he was either asleep or passed out. So I finally stopped and came over and I saw the driver. I remembered him because I'd seen him before. He lives somewhere in the area. "I knocked on the window and he was still passed out or asleep. So I knocked on the window and he finally woke up. He was very confused and didn't remember what had happened. So I asked him his name and he was able to tell me it was Brett. I asked him if he knew what had happened, if he knew that he had been in an accident. He didn't say anything and his eyes were rolling to the back of his head. So I asked him again if he knew he had been in an accident and he still didn't say anything. "So we (Garcia and the other two men) got (Brett) out of the vehicle and by that time one of the people who lives in the home, (Sarah) was out on the front lawn with her baby. So Brett is out of the car and he starts walking toward the house and trying to go into the house. So I asked Sarah if Brett lived there and she said no, he didn't. "I told Brett he didn't live there and he started crying and Sarah got scared and went away from him, to the other side of the house. "And Brett was still telling me he lived there, but I told him he didn't and I went over to get him. I took his hand and tried to sit him down on the grass but he didn't want to sit down. By that time the fire department showed up and I told them what had happened. Then they talked to Brett and they were all waiting for the engineer to get there. "I left as Brett was talking to the fire department but I came back later. "He didn't smell like alcohol or weed. I don't know if he was on medication or pills, but maybe he was on medication." Brett wasn't really injured, he had a scratch on his left eye. When he came back to the house later he was told by the homeowner that Brett was taken in an ambulance. Vincent lives about 2 or 3 blocks away, he is a neighbor. Today was his day off. He works for AAA.