"It was crazy!" Car launches into Wauwatosa home where man was recovering from heart surgery



WAUWATOSA -- A Wauwatosa homeowner is recovering after a car crashed into his home Thursday morning, January 4th. Thankfully he was OK after the crash, but the same couldn't be said for his home.

"It was crazy! I was driving my little one to school and saw the commotion -- the police, the ambulance, the fire trucks," said Jess Koerner, neighbor.

The Wauwatosa Fire Department was dispatched to the area of 60th and Wells around 7:45 a.m. for the report of a car that struck a house. Upon arrival, crews found a vehicle that had impacted the front of a single-family home.



Wauwatosa fire officials said both the sole occupant of the home, and the driver of the car were OK. The exact cause of the crash is undetermined, but the driver of the vehicle reported a mechanical issue may have occurred, causing the accelerator to stick.

Koerner said the crash --  while horrifying -- wasn't entirely surprising.



"There's a lot of speeding, rolling through stop signs. I think it is pretty rampant on this residential street," said Koerner.

Wauwatosa crash (Credit: Wauwatosa Fire Dept.)



Bits of the car that remained on scene left a trail from the roadway to the home. The vehicle went over the sidewalk, the front banister walkway and the garden, before crashing through the front door.

FOX6 News spoke with a construction worker at the scene. He indicated the car stopped before hitting a staircase just inside the front door of the building. He estimated the damage to the structure could be between $50,000 and $100,000 because it took out structural beams, plumbing, electrical and more.

"Interior header for the door and the cross-member is broken in half, so it's no longer there supporting the house," said Todd Halbur, BELFOR Property Restoration.



A relative of the homeowner said he was staying with family until repairs are made -- which the builder said could take a month.

For neighbors, the crash was a wake-up call.

"I have to be outside with them all the time. I can't just let them be out in the yard by themselves. They know not to go in the street, but you never know," said Koerner.

As if things weren't bad enough, the homeowner, who wished to not be identified, had just gotten home from having heart surgery the night before.

PHOTO GALLERY