Wednesday May 7

BREAKING NEWS: Car slams into home

No one injured in bizarre crash near Palo Alto school

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

A woman lost control of her vehicle on Wednesday afternoon, accidentally reversing it through the front door of a Palo Alto home.

None of the four young children in the car or the driver were injured in the incident, which occurred around 1:30 p.m. on the 3000 block of Bryant Street, across from El Carmelo Elementary School.

Homeowner Kevin Guthrie said he heard a noise outside and was walking to look out the window when a blue Honda sedan came crashing through his front door, smashing his furniture and scraping his arm.

"I was walking in front of a chair, and the next thing I know I'm on my back," said Guthrie, who has owned the house for roughly 18 years.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the accident. Police said the driver, a 40-year-old East Palo Alto resident, was reversing out of a parking spot roughly 20 yards down the road on the west side of Bryant Street when she lost control of the car. She hit a gold sedan parked just behind her before shooting down the road and plowing through a rosemary hedge, ending up in Guthrie's living room.

The driver was picking up three of her children, students at El Carmelo, and had a fourth, younger child in the car. Ranging in age from 3 to 11, all of the children were wearing seat belts, and the youngest child was safely secured in a car seat, said police Detective Brian Philip.

Guthrie helped the children and driver get out of the car through the one door that could be opened.

"We had to go around to the back of the house because we couldn't go out the front door," Guthrie said.

One of the driver's daughters called the incident "scary." While the car was careering down the street, "my mind went blank," she said.

El Carmelo principal Lupe Garcia arrived at the scene shortly after the car crashed into the house and helped keep the children calm.

"Luckily everybody was safe," he said. Due to staggered release times at El Carmelo, students were not dismissed all at once Wednesday afternoon, according to the school's Web site.

After hooking up the car to a tow chain, police were able to drive the vehicle out of the house. After being extricated, the car was missing a tail pipe and rear light and had a few new scratches, but no flat tires or shattered windows.

Police aren't planning to file charges against the driver, Philip said. Insurance companies will work out payment for the damages, he added.

Guthrie said building inspectors told him he and his family would likely be able to stay in the house.

As the car was pulled out of the house, Guthrie said his own children would be arriving home from school soon and shook his head at the close call.

"A couple of seconds later and I would've been in front of the door," he said.


E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.