(Posted May 18, 2020)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
A pickup truck crashed into a house on Olive Street in London on May 15. One of the home’s occupants suffered minor injuries. No one else was hurt.
The accident was reported at 6:26 a.m. The London police and fire departments responded to the call.
According to the police report, a 50-year-old Washington Court House resident was driving east on State Route 38 on his way to work in London when he began choking on his coffee and fainted. The vehicle went left of center, over the curb and onto the left side of the roadway, through the grass and a utility pole guy wire, and over Olive Street before striking the house.
Three of the home’s four occupants were inside the house at the time. The truck crashed into a bedroom where a 15-year-old girl was sleeping, according to Police Chief Glenn Nicol. The girl suffered minor injuries to her elbow from falling and moving debris and was trapped in the room. When the home’s fourth occupant arrived at the house, he helped the girl to exit the home through the bedroom window.
Fire fighters and paramedics moved an interior wall in order to get the driver out of his truck through the back passenger door. The driver was not hurt but was transported to Madison Health where he refused treatment.
According to the report, the driver said the only thing he remembered after choking on his coffee was waking up inside the house. He said he had fainted recently and had made a doctor’s appointment to have it checked but the appointment had been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) shutdowns, the report states.
The reporting police officer noted that there was no indication that the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The driver was issued a citation for failure to control his vehicle.
The vehicle was towed from the scene. The county building inspector was called to the scene to check to see that the home was structurally sound. The damage was boarded up. The American Red Cross was called to help the family with any displacement issues.
