Car goes airborne, into backyard pool
Personal Injury News
Article Date: 8/21/2009 | Resource: MLG
Car goes airborne, into backyard pool
“Driver and passenger suffer minor injuries.”
A white Enterprise van was traveling on Trabuco Road when it went airborne and cleared a six-foot tall cinder-block wall before landing in the backyard swimming pool of Seth and Jennifer Leader, authorities and witnesses said.
The driver and a passenger suffered minor injuries and were taken to Saddleback Memorial Medical Center Laguna Hills for treatment, the Leaders said.
The crash was first reported near Trabuco Road and El Toro Road at 7:02 a.m., said Lt. Ted Boyne of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Jennifer Leader said she was sleeping in her bedroom when she heard “five loud bangs,” which she believes were the sounds of the van clipping their home’s back wall and bouncing a couple times in the yard before hitting the pool.
“The house shook like an atomic bomb,” Jennifer said.
Jennifer said the driver’s foot was still on the pedal as the van sat in the pool, and she could hear the sound of the engine revving.
Police and paramedics were on the scene within three minutes, Jennifer said. She added that she saw the passenger lying in the backyard. He complained of back pain and appeared to have a “couple scrapes,” she said. The driver remained in the van, where one of the witnesses who had entered the backyard attended to him before police and paramedics arrived, Leader said.
Jennifer said she was in shock from the incident: “I felt like I was in a movie.”
She added, “It could have been worse,” pointing to the full propane tank just steps away from where the van had been. “The pool stopped him.”
Seth said he felt bad for the victims of the accident.
“We’re just amazed that it could happen,” he said.
The van was removed from the scene by mid-morning, around 10:30 a.m.
Authorities are still investigating what caused the driver to lose control.
For more information regarding this article please contact:
Jeffrey Marquart
(949)589-0150
jmarquart@marquartlawgroup.com