PERRYSBURG - State Troopers in Gowanda are investigating a car accident that involved a house early Friday morning.
At approximately 1:10 a.m. Robert and Ada Gabel were awakened after a car hit the side of their home at 11136 Route 39 outside the village.
"It was a hell of a noise," Robert Gabel said. "It was one hell of a way to wake up."
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OBSERVER Photo by Samantha McDonnell
A house located at 11136 Route 39 in the town of Perrysburg was struck by a car early Friday morning. The driver then fled the scene of the accident. He was later caught and charges are pending.
Gabel said his wife initially thought the noise was from a tree falling down but when the couple saw the car, they knew otherwise.
"I said 'That has to be a weird tree with a tire and a rim coming through the window,'" he stated.
Police investigation revealed the car was westbound on Route 39, coming out of the village of Gowanda at a high rate of speed. The vehicle went off the road and hit the end section of a guide rail. The car continued on striking three mailboxes, two large stones in the lawn and then a small tree. The vehicle then hit another larger tree, flipped over and hit the house. The rear bumper of the car went through a window in the home.
"We were in bed. He came right through our bedroom window," Gabel said.
The driver fled the scene following the accident. Area volunteer fire and emergency personnel responded to the scene and checked the area extensively for the operator.
The Gowanda Police Department and a K9 from the Erie County Sheriff's Department also responded to assist in the search, but were unable to locate the operator.
"As soon as I got up, there was nobody (outside). I can't imagine anybody coming out of it alive the way the car was," Gabel said.
By Friday afternoon, the driver had been located and the investigation is continuing. The driver's name has not been released by police. No charges have been filed as yet, pending further investigation.
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