“WE DODGED A BULLET”

A teenager driving at a high rate of speed in Eaton Estates early Sunday evening crashed his car into three parked vehicles after taking out a mail box, in what could have been a far worse crash say neighbors.

“We dodged a bullet here tonight” said one neighbor explaining about how all the kids were outside playing in the yards and riding bikes in the street. Nancy Vettel Lives next door to where the crash occurred, she said she was inside the house but could hear him coming. “I was inside doing dishes and I heard him coming, tires squealing and engine real load, I looked out my window and I saw him go past my mail box and into my neighbors driveway smashing into their truck.” Vettel then quickly called 9-1-1 to report the crash. While on the phone she watched as a passenger from the back seat climbed out of the car and ran home a couple blocks away. He later returned saying that he went home to call 9-1-1. The female passenger got out on her own but just sat on the lawn near the car.

Ashley Krantz, 13, and her friend 11 year old Shelby Newton were walking along National Drive to the park when they saw the car rounding the corner. “We saw the car come flying around the corner and all I said was “wow”. Then I saw him go off the road and hit the mail box and then he came back up on the road towards us.” It was then that Ashley grabbed her friend and pulled her out of the way of the car and threw her into the yard. Both girls said it was a very frightening experience and that they were still shaking from what happened.

Trooper Christopher Ausse of The Ohio State Highway Patrol said that excessive speed and failure to control contributed to the crash. “The driver first went off the road striking a mail box then he got back up onto the roadway drove down a little further where he struck a truck sitting in a driveway.” Trooper Ausse said that the truck that was hit slide backwards into a camper then sideways into a SUV making this a four-vehicle crash.

The investigation continues but Trooper Ausse said that the driver will be charged with at least Failure to Control and Speeding.

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