Suspected Drunk Driver Causes Major Injuries & Destroys Home of Elderly Woman

CORONA – A suspected drunk driver destroyed the home of an elderly woman and after catching fire, left her with burn injuries early Monday morning.

At around 1:57 a.m. the Corona Police and firefighters were dispatched to the home in the 1000 block of Cleveland Way. When they arrived they found the detached living quarters fully involved with a vehicle crashed into it. Firefighters and police learned that the family inside the main house heard the crash and ran out to rescue the grandmother and her two young grandchildren who were unable to exit through the door due to a large piece of furniture being pushed against the door as a result of the crash.

The three occupants, with the help of the family in the main house, were able to exit through a window of the home. The grandmother was transported to a burn center for treatment of burns and the children were not injured. A 22 and 23-year-old male were found outside of the home, the 23-year-old driver on the ground suffering from serious injuries as a result of the crash. The 22-year-old man complained only of pain. The responsive, but the seriously injured driver was cooperative with officers at the scene and was taken to a local trauma center. The passenger was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Authorities believe that alcohol was a factor in the collision, and this will be confirmed by a blood alcohol content (BAC) test.

Through investigation, officers were able to determine that the vehicle was being driven on Gilbert Avenue at a high rate of speed. The vehicle left the roadway, drove up a curb, and went through the decorative stucco wall near the sidewalk. The vehicle then drove across the lawn where it rested after crashing into the home. “The car came to rest with the front of the car having impacted the wall adjacent to the headboard of the bed the adult female had been sleeping in,” Corona Police officials said in a written statement. “The guest house suffered extensive damage and was red-tagged by the Corona Building Department. The vehicle was a total loss.”

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Corona Police Department Traffic Division at 951-736-2330, option #2 or email Traffic Sergeant Michael Nielsen at Michael.Nielsen@CoronaCA.gov.

No Result