OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — An Overland Park family was forced out of their home early Wednesday morning after a 20-year-old woman charged with driving under the influence drove into it.
The crash happened at 98th and Hadley, near 95th and Antioch around 1 a.m. The family heard a loud boom and came out only to find someone had crashed their car, leaving a giant hole in their garage.
“I had just gotten off work, and was kind of unwinding, when this kind of ‘BOOM!’ hit the house. We all thought either a big thing of furniture fell or there was a random clap of thunder from a little bit of rain,” said Hilary, who lives at the home, but didn’t want her last name used.
Emma Conaghan, 20, was less than a mile from her house. Police say she was charged with DUI and could not provide current proof of insurance after crashing her SUV.
“My dad came down and goes, ‘hey, you need to come upstairs, there’s a car in our garage,’” Hilary said. “She came up to our door and knocked and actually told us she had hit our house.”
Police confirm there was a passenger in the car — but say that person ran off. Hilary says she’s still in shock.
“You didn’t really understand what was going on when you first saw it, it kind of took a couple of minutes to process,” added Hilary. “It’s kind of starting to kind of hit that ‘oh my gosh, this person just drove their car through my house.’”
Hilary says the driver seemed nervous.
“There was a lot of asking us not to call the cops because she was nervous, she admitted she was young and had been drinking,” Hilary added. “For us it was more just kind of trying to help keep her calm, because she was very hysterical, and very panicked.”
Hilary says the people across the street called police when they heard the boom.
“We have two bedrooms above where she hit, so I sit there and I think, if anything really bad happened, she could have died, but I could have also lost my sister and my dad, so it’s kind of one of those where I’m hoping people see it and learn from this,” said Hilary. “If you do have something to drink, call a cab, don’t risk your life and other people’s lives by getting behind the wheel.”
Police say Conaghan complained of head pain but refused to be taken to the hospital.
Hilary says they are currently staying in a hotel, but hoping to get the hole fixed as soon as possible. FOX 4’s Melissa Stern reached out to the driver but hasn’t heard back.