MIRAMAR, Fla. – A driver crashed her car into the front of a home in Miramar early Friday morning, and this isn’t the first time a similar incident has occurred in the neighborhood.
Homeowner Francisco Donis told Local 10 News that he was asleep when he had to jump out of bed around 2 a.m. when a car slammed into the front of his home.
The crash occurred in the 6600 block of Miramar Parkway.
Several police cars were spotted outside the home after the crash, as well as crime scene investigators, who were gathering evidence.
Video taken at the scene shows that the car, a blue Chevrolet Cobalt, was partially off the ground and sort of lodged between some of the home’s landscaping.
As Local 10 News reporter Joseph Ojo was at the scene gathering video and conducting interviews, another driver traveling at a high rate of speed almost crashed into the back of a police car.
Police stopped that driver and conducted a field sobriety test. The driver was ultimately arrested.
A short time later, a third car actually struck one of the parked police cars at the scene.
The driver, Dondrell Chandler, told Local 10 News that he was trying to avoid side-swiping another car so he hit the brakes, but the car couldn’t stop in time and he slammed into the officer’s vehicle.
“I was coming around the curve and I noticed the officer, and I went to change lanes, but I couldn’t change lanes and when I hit the brakes, I ran right into him,” he said.
Neighbors said in the last two weeks, cars crashing into homes along Miramar Parkway has happened far too often.
Just across the street from where Friday morning’s crash happened, a Tesla lost control and bolted across the front yard of homes, damaging cars this past weekend.
“I think that this is getting out of hand, it is ridiculous, you know?” Donis said. “I have my parents -- the window was broken and they were sleeping right there in that room.”
Neighbors agreed that this kind of thing is becoming an issue in the area.
“The cars come in here and they don’t respect the speed limit. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour,” Roberto Cepeda said.
Even Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam weighed in on the issue.
“From University to 441, this part of Miramar Parkway is under the jurisdiction of the county,” Messam said. “Something has to be done.”
Messam said the city must step in and do what needs to be done to protect residents. He says that includes reconfiguring Miramar Parkway and putting better safety measures in place.
Donis said his parents’ injuries were minor and they were checked out and are doing OK.
Police said the female driver was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the crash. Authorities said speed was a factor.