Minivan Driver Survives Wild Crash Into Merrimac Home

MERRIMAC (CBS) -- A car flipped off the road and slammed into the front of a empty home in a wild crash Saturday night in Merrimac.

Police said the 2007 Honda CRV went off East Main Street around 8 p.m. after the driver failed to negotiate a turn. The car went into a liquor store parking lot, struck a metal cage holding propane tanks, and hit a jersey barrier and wooden fence before knocking into the home.

An officer stationed at the Merrimac Police Department, also on East Main Street, saw the Honda fly past with its hazard lights on moments before the crash.

That officer had tried to pull the driver over, but Merrimac Police said the Honda sped up, and went straight into the Merrimac Liquors parking lot, where it rolled over several times.

Nobody was home at the time of the crash.

Dennis Francis says he was cleaning up Merrimac Liquors  when he heard the crash. That's when he ran outside and saw the flipped-over minivan impaled into the building. The crash was so loud, it rocked this quiet neighborhood.

"It felt like an earthquake and it shook the store and glass here moved," Francis told WBZ-TV.

Francis and the police officer ran to the scene to try and help the driver.

"We could not hear him breathing. He was incoherent and we wanted to know if anyone was in the back seat of the car because the roof was crushed," Francis said.

Kathy Mennella could not believe the damage.

"When we got up close, we saw a car into the house and the roof was all smashed. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, he could not have survived it,' " Mennella said.

The driver was taken to a hospital in Gloucester before being taken to Boston with life-threatening injuries.

"I just hope he's okay," Francis said.

The Essex County DA's office, as well as Merrimac and State Police are investigating the crash.

In:
• Paul Burton
• Massachusetts State Police