Man killed after driving car into Phoenix apartment building
May 31, 2016, 10:42 AM | Updated: 1:29 pm
(Phoenix Police Department Photo)
PHOENIX — A man was killed early Tuesday morning after driving into a Phoenix apartment building at a high rate of speed, police said.
The Phoenix Police Department said an officer noticed the driver’s vehicle only had one headlight about 1:30 a.m. and attempted to pull the driver over near 27th Avenue and Thomas Road. However, he sped away from the scene and began running red lights.
Police said officers did not follow the driver, who hit speeds as high as 100 mph.
Shortly after the attempted stop, the driver — who has not been identified — hit a fire hydrant near 39th Avenue and McDowell Road. The impact sent the driver careening through a fence and into a nearby apartment building.
The driver was killed in the crash.
The driver hit the fire hydrant so hard that it was embedded into the apartment building wall several feet off the ground.
The driver’s car ended up in the bedroom of Ediberto Lopez, who walked away with cuts and bruises.
“My reaction to it is that I woke up screaming,” he said. “There was water everywhere. It (the car) hit my bedroom and the kids’ bedroom.
“None of my kids were home.”
The Phoenix Fire Department said damage caused by the accident displaced eight people. About 20 more could be displaced because water was cut off to their apartments.
McDowell Road was closed between 37th and 39th avenues while crews worked to clear the scene.
KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.