Keego Harbor

Airborne car crashes through Keego home

By Eric Czarnik
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo provided by the Keego Harbor Police Department A Chrysler Sebring crashed through this home in the 3000 block of Grove Street Jan. 3. Photo provided by the Keego Harbor Police Department A Chrysler Sebring crashed through this home in the 3000 block of Grove Street Jan. 3.

An automobile became an agent of destruction in Keego Harbor Jan. 3 when it crashed through a home.

According to Keego Harbor Police Chief Kenneth Hurst, a 60-year-old Keego Harbor man drove a Chrysler Sebring through a home and into a tree in the 3000 block of Grove Street after 4 p.m.

Police said the driver was taken to the hospital for sustaining what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. Police describe the motorist as cooperative.

“Supposedly, the last thing he remembers is that he was getting ready to turn into his residence, located off of Cass Lake Front and Cass Lake Road, and then he felt his car accelerate,” Hurst said.  “And then he’s a little fuzzy on what happened after that.”

Hurst said the car traveled about five city blocks southbound on Cass Lake Front. The vehicle went up a hill and then down it, crossing over Grove Street and hitting an embankment.

The vehicle, which was traveling at a high rate of speed, barely touched a parked car and went airborne all the way through the house, Hurst said.

“He went into the front building on the northwest side and exited the southeast side,” Hurst said. “The only thing that stopped his momentum is a tree.”

West Bloomfield Fire Marshal Pat Riney said he has never seen anything like this incident in the 25 years he’s worked in public safety. He said the house could be a total loss because it suffered major structural damage.

“Like Ken (Hurst) said, we’re guessing that he was 3 or 4 feet in the air and never touched the ground till he hit the tree,” Riney said. “We’ve had cars through buildings before, but never airborne completely through the building.”

Riney said three people were inside the house during the crash, and he added that none of them was seriously injured. However, one person was later transported to the hospital, he said. “It was precautionary, for evaluation,” Riney said.

Police reportedly cited the driver for issues unrelated to the crash. Although police said alcohol did not appear to play a role, Hurst said they aren’t ruling anything out until they obtain the driver’s medical results.

Anyone with information on this incident can call the Keego Harbor Police Department at (248) 682-3030 or the West Bloomfield Fire Department at (248) 409-1505.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Eric Czarnik at eczarnik@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1058.