Woman Allegedly Steals Van, Crashes Into Fremont Home
FREMONT (CBS SF) – Authorities on Monday said a woman who allegedly stole a window washer's van crashed the vehicle into a Fremont home, apparently undermining the structural integrity of the building.
Fremont police and fire units were called to the accident on the 35000 block of Barnard Drive near Quarry Lakes late Monday morning.
According to officers at the scene, someone behind the wheel of white van that appeared to be owned by Seasonal Window Cleaning crashed into the home.
Fremont police said they home sustained major structural damage. A photo posted by the Fremont Fire department on Twitter showed what appeared to be a pair of newly installed wooden supports where the van had crashed through the existing structure.
Police later confirmed that the van had allegedly been stolen by the female driver, who suffered minor injuries in the crash and was taken to an area hospital. Police said the woman would be booked on possession of a stolen vehicle after receiving treatment.
The woman who lives at the house said it happened so quickly, it took a few seconds to realize her home of 20 years had just become a crime scene.
"And I see a car where normally my front door is. So I realize somebody drove into my house," said the home owner, who did not want to give her name.
When the debris finally settled, the homeowner -- who was the only one home at the time -- saw that a van had plowed through her garage, the front door and leveled a support beam before finally coming to a stop in her living room.
"Somebody is in there. I didn't want that person to die in my house right, and I didn't know what to do," the homeowner said.
"She said that a car drove inside the house she couldn't talk properly," said Najib Barati, the husband of the homeowner.
The woman called Barati right away. He arrived minutes after Fremont police, who had learned the van's driver allegedly stole the vehicle from a window cleaner working at a home nearby:
"[The van's owner] looked outside, noticed that his van was missing," explained Fremont Police Lt. Matt Snelson. "He heard screeching tires and walked down the street to investigate and found his van was the van that had been collided into the house."
"I feel bad that the woman has affected so many people. My family, the poor guy who was cleaning windows, he's traumatized. And she's hurt herself," said the homeowner.
She said the incident could have ended differently for her as well. She was just minutes from walking into the garage to get in her car to go to work when the crash happened.
"I know these are material things, right? And you can fix anything and everything, so I tell myself that too. But still this is my home," she said.
Fire crews and a tow truck operator were working to remove the van for about an hour before finally pulling it from the bottom of the home shortly before 12 p.m.
Police said the driver who allegedly stole the van refused to give them her identity after the crash Monday.
