Car crashes into home in Monroe

Village of Monroe police continue to investigate what caused a car to plow into a home in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 26, sending the driver and a 92-year-old woman to the hospital.

“On July 26 at approximately 2:48 a.m., the Monroe Police Department responded to a motor vehicle crash involving a residence near the intersection of High Street and Quaker Hill Road,” Chief of Police Darwin Guzman said in a July 27 press release. “The preliminary investigation determined that a 2012 Honda Accord left the roadway and struck a residence on High Street. The driver, a 20-year-old male, and the resident, a 92-year-old female, sustained injuries and were transported by medical helicopter for evaluation and treatment. Their conditions are not being released at this time.”

Harry Fischer, who lives across the street from the victim’s home, was awoken by the noise.

“I was a witness to the noise,” said Fischer, who lives at the corner of Gilbert Street and High Street. “It happened at exactly 2:45 a.m. with a bang so loud it woke me and my wife and I thought part of our house had collapsed or a tree fell on it or something. We felt it. I immediately checked on my daughter and she was ok. I started looking around for the part of the house that collapsed. I was convinced something happened to our house. The only question was what.”

Fischer said he then went outside and heard yelling.

“A man yelled, ‘Help! Someone drove a car into my house. My mom is trapped. Call 911!’ My neighbor, who is a paramedic, ran over.”

Fischer, whose surveillance cameras caught the crash, said this sort of thing has happened before.

“The surveillance cameras on my house captured the accident,” said the owner of H&F communications. “A similar accident happened about a year ago but with a different ending. A car was speeding about headed for that house when it hit a partial guard rail there and then went over it. That was enough to prevent that car from hitting the house. This time, the car came in from the side and swerved to avoid the guard rail. The guy was going ridiculously fast.”

Monroe police were assisted at the scene by state police, Town of Woodbury police, Monroe Joint Fire District, Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Kiryas Joel EMS and LifeNet.