The stolen vehicle, obscured by darkness at left, traveled up the driveway and struck the side of a house on Drs. Parker Boulevard. The impact tore out the electrical service and caused structural damage to the house, as seen below. (Photo below by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
[Update, 9:30 p.m. Monday: According to Sickles, the damaged house was a two-family. One family is staying with friends or relatives, and the other has gotten housing assistance through the Red Cross.]
By JOHN T. WARD
Eight people were said to have been displaced Monday after a stolen vehicle, fleeing police, crashed into their Red Bank home early Monday morning.
As previously reported by redbankgreen, the unidentified driver fled the scene on foot after racing a stolen sedan south on Bridge Avenue and smashing into the house at 133-135 Drs. Parker Boulevard at about 1:10 a.m. Middletown and Red Bank police had attempted to intercept the car, but couldn’t catch it, authorities said.
By the time Red Bank Patrolman Sean Hauschildt caught up to the vehicle, it had crashed and overturned in a driveway on Drs. James Parker Boulevard, opposite Bridge Avenue, damaging both a house and an adjoining fence for B&C Custom Wood Stairs and Rail.
Borough Fire Marshal Stanley Sickels said the crash tore out the electrical service and caused structural damage to a corner of the house, leaving it uninhabitable.
A borough official who asked not to be identified said eight residents were displaced, a number that could not be independently verified. Owner Art Lynch could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon, and Father Alberto Tamayo, pastor of the nearby St. Anthony of Padua church, said he had not yet heard if any parishioners were affected.
The vehicle, which came to rest on its side far into the narrow driveway, had been reported stolen in Carteret, according to Red Bank Chief Darren McConnell. Its driver, and occupants, if any, fled on foot after the crash and had not been located by 4 p.m. Monday, he said.
McConnell said the vehicle was traveling at high speed south on Bridge Avenue, perhaps fast enough to have become airborne when it hit the driveway.
Volunteer firefighters responded as a precaution to the 1:10 a.m. call, but no fire occurred, McConnell said.
