SUV slams into Maitland home, building declared unsafe

Driver, 2 people inside the home take to hospital for evaluation

MAITLAND, Fla. – Three people were taken to the hospital Monday morning after a vehicle plowed into a Maitland home.

Maitland Police responded to the wreck on Horatio Avenue around midnight.

Officers found a badly damaged, gray SUV sitting in the yard and damage to part of the home.

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Investigators blocked the house off with tape as they searched the property. Debris from the damaged home surrounded the area.

Neighbors said they were told the vehicle was going fast when it swerved off the road and into the house.

Nicole Burley was awakened before 1 a.m. Monday by the crash.

“I was in a dead sleep, heard a very, very loud noise, my daughter thought it was thunder,” Burley said.

The damage to the house was extensive from the garage door all the way across the front of the house. City officials had to deem the property unsafe.

“(The speed limit is) supposed to be 35 (mph). There’s no way you could do that kind of damage going 35 (mph),” Burley said.

“We think that she must have gotten up in the curb at that point; the rest of her car got up on to the sidewalk at this point and then went through this lady’s driveway through the trees up and over the car and through the house,” Burley told News 6 as she pointed toward the street.

Soon after the crash, she heard people screaming and commotion from the family that lived at the house.

“I got on the phone to 9-1-1, my husband ran across the street to see if he could help. They were very upset, very, very distraught,” she said.

Maitland police have not said what caused the crash but believe the juvenile driver, a female, may have been under the influence of alcohol.

“She was very distraught as well; really, really shaken, really upset. My husband was trying to calm her down and get her to sit down. She didn’t have any visible injuries so that was miraculous too that she walked out of that car,” Burley said.

News 6 was at the site moments after the crash as a tow truck removed the SUV from the home. According to Maitland police, two people from the house were taken to a hospital as well as the driver for evaluation and minor injuries. Charges against the driver are pending.

An online fundraiser has been set up to help the people who lived inside the home. You can donate by clicking here.


About the Authors:

Treasure joined News 6 at the start of 2021, coming to the Sunshine State from Michigan.

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