Driver Backs into West Hartford Apartment, Just Misses Hitting Resident
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A load-bearing wall of an apartment at 32 Starkel Rd. in West Hartford was damaged when a vehicle backed into it Wednesday afternoon, but no one was injured. It has been shored up until a contractor can make repairs. Photo courtesy of Robert Zinkerman
A driver backed into an occupied apartment in West Hartford’s Bishops Corner neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
By Ronni Newton
A West Hartford fire official said an elderly woman was resting on her bed when a driver accidentally backed into the wall of her apartment, moving the bed.
“Miraculously no one was injured,” Battalion Chief Kevin Munson said.
According to Munson, the incident was reported at 2:40 p.m. Wednesday. The call originally indicated the address of the damaged building as 20 Starkel Rd., but he said the actual building address is 32 Starkel Rd.
The bed where the resident of the apartment was resting was against the wall that the car, a Subaru Legacy, crashed through, but neither she nor the driver sustained any injuries. The driver was shaken up and both were treated at the scene and signed releases, Munson said.
“I am shocked that no one went to the hospital,” he said.
The apartment complex, West Hartford Fellowship Housing, is senior housing, and Munson said that both the resident and the driver of the vehicle were elderly women. The woman who was inside the residence is ambulatory, but was resting at the time of the incident, he said.
The apartment sustained damage to a load-bearing wall, and Munson said that official were able to shore it up until a contractor arrived to do repairs.
The apartment cannot be occupied until those repairs are made, and the resident is temporarily staying at a hotel, Munson said.
Police are investigating the cause of the incident, but Munson said it appears that the driver may have hit the gas instead of the brake.
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A load-bearing wall of an apartment at 32 Starkel Rd. in West Hartford was damaged when a vehicle backed into it Wednesday afternoon, but no one was injured. It has been shored up until a contractor can make repairs. Photo courtesy of Robert Zinkerman
A load-bearing wall of an apartment at 32 Starkel Rd. in West Hartford was damaged when a vehicle backed into it Wednesday afternoon, but no one was injured. It has been shored up until a contractor can make repairs. Photo courtesy of Robert Zinkerman
