Stolen Car Crashes Into Harvey Home; 'The House Was Broken In Half'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A stolen car crashed into a house in south suburban Harvey, while fleeing from Metra police officers who spotted the vehicle on Dixie Highway.
Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said officers spotted the car "driving erratically" near 171st and Dixie Highway early Friday morning.
When officers ran the plate, they discovered the car had been reported stolen. When officers activated their lights and siren to make a traffic stop, the car sped away.
Gillis said officers did not chase the stolen car, and instead turned off the lights and siren and followed it up Dixie Highway.
A short time later, they saw the car had crashed into a house near 159th and Dixie, causing extensive damage to the exterior walls.
"The fire department had to break me out of that house because the walls came crashing down around me," said homeowner Annie Washington.
Washington called her grandson at work after firefighters rescued her.
"When I arrived, I seen a car sitting in the middle of her front lawn," Josiah Anderson said. "The house was broken in half."
Washington was not seriously injured, but was taken to the hospital to be checked out, according to her grandson.
"It's going to be okay, because God got us. God got us forever, and that's how we're supposed to live. Things are going to get taken care of. So I appreciate that she's healthy and she's okay. She's going to be okay," Anderson said.
Anderson described his grandmother as a kind person who helps everyone in her neighborhood.
"Everybody on Dixie Highway knows that she's a great person, great person, that she's willing to give you anything you need," he said. "She's a strong woman. She's going to get everything together after this. This is just a minor setback."
Metra police said there were three teens in the stolen car. One was pinned inside, and had to be rescued. He was treated at Ingalls Hospital and was in Metra police custody. The other two teens fled the scene.
Three teens have been charged as juveniles. Two are charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and armed violence. The other was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle. All three were charged with reckless driving.