A Saturn plowed though one garage, down an embankment and into the garage next door in Hamden Tuesday, leaving behind a lot of plaster dust.
Stephanie Barajas was in her pool behind the two houses when she saw the car go airborne around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday.
"I saw the car just flying through and it hit right there," said Barajas, as she pointed to one of the Glen Ridge Road homes. "I thought the house was falling down because the siding and stuff was falling and that's when I called the cops."
Hamden firefighters said the driver meant to back out of the garage next door, but inadvertently put the car in drive, plowing through the homes.
Miraculously she wasn't badly hurt.
"She has minor injuries, scrapes and bruises, fortunately," said Hamden Fire Chief David Berardesca. "We did have to extricate her from the vehicle in neighbor's garage."
Neighbors said the young children who live in the home normally play in the garage. On a different day, this accident could have had a very different outcome.
"They have three or four kids, little ones, so it's a good thing they weren't home," Barajas said.
Neighbors said the children and their mother are out of the country. Their father stayed home, but now he can't go into his home because the building inspector declared the house uninhabitable. The garage that the Saturn plowed through and the room above it were also deemed unsafe.
"It hit a column on the side of the garage and we are very concerned with collapse," Berardesca said.
Firefighters worked to secure the home for now.
After seeing all the damage, neighbors and firefighters said they are thankful the driver's injuries are only minor and that no one else was hurt.
