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Homeowner Saved By Doing Dishes When Car Crashes Into Hempfield Twp. Home

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HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – A man narrowly escaped injury when a car crashed into his Hempfield Township home early Wednesday morning.

According to police, the incident happened along Wendel Road in Hempfield Township around midnight.

Shannon Joyner says she was fast asleep when the SUV came careening into her house.

"It was about midnight. I was sleeping when it happened, so I kinda woke up to my boyfriend, Rick, screaming, 'Call 911, there's a car in the house.' So, I was like, ok," said Joyner.

Coming downstairs, Joyner, her groggy mind clearing, could see it wasn't a bad dream - an SUV was partially parked in the living room.

hempfield township car house
(Photo Credit: Alan Mullaert)

"I see the whole front end where there was a bench - pretty much in pieces and dust everywhere," said Joyner of her furniture.

Two young women were inside the Acura SUV when it veered off Wendel Road and into Joyner's Hempfield Township home.

"They must have been airborne or something," said Joyner. "They hit the actual house itself, the corner of it. So, they landed their top tire pretty much on the foundation."

The car did significant damage to the structure, but what it didn't hit kept the accident from becoming an explosive situation.

"If they would have been over, less than a foot more, they could have hit our gas lines," she said.

That's not all. If the SUV would've impacted a few moments earlier, Joyner's boyfriend could have been killed. Rick Nicholson was about take a seat on the bench that was destroyed in the living room, but decided he'd better take care of a common household chore first.

"He decided to do dishes instead. So, he was in the far room back there, in the kitchen," Joyner said. "The bench literally flew into pieces."

Authorities are investigating the crash. They say they are looking into whether speed or alcohol possibly played a factor.

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