GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gastonia man said he is lucky to be alive after a car involved in a chase crashed into his duplex Monday morning.
Police said the 19-year-old driver nearly hit officers before speeding away from Lineberger Park and slamming into the home on Osceola Street. One apartment remains uninhabitable after the crash.
The driver nearly hit an officer trying to stop him, and a side-view mirror struck another, according to arrest warrants.
Police got a call Monday morning about underage drinking and smoking at Lineberger Park.
The 19-year-old and two 18-year-olds rode off, ignoring police lights, eventually going 60 mph in a 35-mph zone just as Hillard walked into the kitchen.
They smashed through a concrete barrier meant to stop vehicles from running off the road toward the house.
Resident Keith Hillard told Channel 9’s Ken Lemon he is still stunned.
“I thank God that I’m alive today,” Hillard told Lemon.
Hillard can’t shake the feeling.
“Mentally, physically, I’m really shook, man,” he said. “Honestly, I’m really shook, and I’m trying to mask it, but I’m really shook, Ken.”
Hillard recalled the moment the car smashed into his home.
“Next thing I know, I hear screeching, and ‘Kaboom,’ a car knocks the whole … everything loose, and the wall is coming at me,” he said.
The car went through the living room of apartment A. The people inside were sleeping in the back room. Hillard was in apartment B.
“One guy was unconscious in the car, had to cut him out,” Hillard said.
Firefighters had to pry open Apartment A to get the neighbors out.
The cars parked in front of the house were also mangled.
Work crews replaced the hole in the wall, but apartment A is still uninhabitable.
“Stop doing this stuff that’s senseless,” Hillard said.
Hillard said the American Red Cross helped people in both apartments recover.
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