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Truck crashes into house in Bel Air, 1 injured

Posted at 11:49 AM, Nov 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-15 18:25:13-05
The pictures tell part of the story of the Nissan Frontier, which came crashing through the wall of a house along West Riding Drive in Bel Air on Tuesday morning.
 
"She thought a bomb went off.  That's exactly what she thought it was---a very loud boom," said one of the homeowner’s neighbors, Melissa Laurentius.
 
The homeowner scrambled to get out of the house as the vehicle splintered the wall, some furniture and everything else in its path, but it was Laurentius who shared the rest of the story of how the man who lives across the street ended up crashing his truck, literally, "into" the house.
 
"The neighbor was in his vehicle across the street, and I don't know the details surrounding exactly what happened.  I didn't see it, but his pickup truck crossed the road here, up the hill and straight into her family room."
 
Investigators say the driver, an elderly man in his seventies, suffered a broken arm in the accident, and witnesses say he told police the devices he uses to help drive the vehicle, because of his prosthetic legs, may have malfunctioned.
 
"My understanding is his vehicle was not your normal vehicle and he used some assistance to drive the vehicle,” said Major William Davis of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, “It's perfectly legal and everything with that.  He just couldn't get control of the car."
 
It's just as simple as that, unless you happened to be the one still waking up when that neighbor and his truck came smashing through the wall of your house with no warning.
 
"She was in the back part of the room in the sunroom, saw it happen and was able to exit the house through the back door and she's fine,” said Laurentius, “Shaken, but fine."
 
By late morning, the homeowner had already arranged for a contractor to come in to seal up the front of her house, and her neighbor is expected to make a full recovery.
 
The accident is still under investigation.
 
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