3 Families Displaced When Semi Truck Slams Into Home In North Bergen, N.J.
NORTH BERGEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A big rig made a big mess Friday in North Bergen, New Jersey.
As CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported, the semi-trailer truck slammed into the home after ending up on a hilly street where it did not belong.
Indeed, it was a rocky and violent awakening for the families in the house on 69th Street in North Bergen.
"We really thought that the house was already collapsed," one resident said.
"Like an earthquake sound," another said.
Around 6 a.m., the 53-foot truck crashed into the front steps of the house and obliterated them. The truck then careened into the utility pole in front of the home.
Carlos Rodriguez lives on the first floor.
"It smashed everything up -- the stool, everything gets smashed up," Rodriguez said.
Manuel Loazao, who does not speak English, lives on the second floor and said the incident was frightening. He said his girlfriend, Zoila Zarza, was so startled that she had to be taken to an area hospital for chest pains.
"It's hard, you know?" said the woman's shaken daughter, Deyanira Zarza. "It's very hard."
In all, three families – 11 people who lived in the house – were evacuated. They were waiting late Friday for a structural engineer to determine whether the home was stable enough to return to.
"We don't know when they're going to be able to get inside," said Deyanira Zarza. "They have only the clothes on their back."
Ironically, police told CBS2's Rapoport that trucks of such a large size are prohibited on side streets as narrow and steep as 69th Street.
The truck driver, Deloris Leger, blamed her GPS for directing her onto the street.
"I really feel bad. You know, I might be fired," she said.
Leger said as she was going up the steep hill, she realized she was on a residential street. She said she tried to back out, but her brakes gave out.
"I just kept trying to stop it, trying to stop it, and it just wouldn't stop," she said.
Residents in the area said this was the first time such an incident had happened there with a big truck.
"They come up. They come down," a man said. "It's unbelievable."
