Car Plows Into House On Scotland Road Saturday Night; Driver Taken By Ambulance To Hospital (With Video)

John and Phyllis Carroll were settled in their living room Saturday night around 10 p.m., watching a hockey game on television, when a thundering crash came from the other end of their small house, punctuated by the sound of their china falling from their shelves in the kitchen.

John Carroll rushed outside to see a red Toyota Camry upside down in his side yard, with the top crushed in. He ran back inside to call 911, then ran back outside to find that the sole occupant of the car, a young teenager from a neighboring town, had managed to crawl out one of the windows. One of the Carroll's next door neighbors heard the crash and was with the hysterically crying girl, comforting her, Carroll said.

The Carrolls invited the young woman inside and tended to her only visible wounds, scratches on her hands. They said the girl, who said she was 16 years old and a new driver, said she had swerved to avoid hitting an animal in the road, which she thought was a squirrel. There were tire marks on the grass on the side of the road where the car was traveling, and then the car crossed the road to hit the Carroll's house. There did not appear to be any brake marks Sunday morning.

"Her father said don't ever try avoiding hitting a squirrel and she said, 'But I did,'" Phyllis Carroll said.

The Carrolls said they were so glad the girl appeared to have only minor injuries, but they said they did not know the extent of her injuries and added that they were concerned because the roof of the car appeared to be crushed in.

Within minutes, police, fire, and rescue crews responded, the Carrolls said.

They said the young woman was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Rescue officials confirmed they responded to the scene Saturday night, but said Sunday morning they did not know the condition of the driver.

The Carrolls said it took two wreckers to pull the car out of the side yard, and get it upright again before it was towed off.

Sunday morning, John and Phyllis Carroll's daughter, Kim Castaldo, stopped by to check on her parents, who are renting the house. Kim, her husband Mark, and son Connor surveyed the damage in the backyard and said they were glad it was not worse.

The house, a small cape that is more than 300 years old, appears to have been knocked off of its foundation. A picturesque wishing well in the front yard was destroyed, along with a rose bush alongside that. There is a crack where the two walls meet inside the kitchen, where the outside can be seen. But by Sunday morning, the Carroll's had cleared up the debris in the kitchen, and the crockery was back on the shelves.

"We're just glad they are OK, and glad it was not worse," said Kim Castaldo, standing with her parents, her husband, and son in the side yard. "And we feel so very lucky to live in a town where the police respond promptly, and the rescue and fire crews. They are so dedicated."

The Carroll's agreed. They said rescue and fire crews were there Saturday night until about midnight. "The response was unbelievable, terrific," said John Carroll. "There must have been 15 firefighters here."

This story was updated with photos and video around 2 p.m. Sunday.