Police in Townsend, Massachusetts arrested a driver who they say crashed into a house after trying to flee a traffic stop early Saturday.
According to police, the driver of a Buick Encore refused to stop for officers while speeding near the Lunenburg town line. An officer gave chase but eventually gave up over safety concerns.
A short time later police say the car crashed into a home on Elm Street. The driver, identified as 46-year-old Dennis Legere, of Mason, New Hampshire, was taken to the hospital after the crash. He has since been released to police custody.
Investigators say he was driving drunk at the time of the crash.
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No one in the home was hurt. The homeowner said a town building inspector said the car missed all the structural beams so despite a hole in the living room, the home is otherwise safe.
The family said they feel fortunate no one was seriously hurt.
Rebecca Khalil said when she saw the car in her living room, she thought she was looking at headlights at first. It wasn't long before she realized what she was looking at was actually the back end of the car.
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"We felt the house shake but that didn't register at first it was the noise. I was trying to figure out how my cats knocked over an entire case of dishes in the other room because who thinks your house is getting hit by a car? That's not what we were thinking," Khalil said.
Legere was charged with speeding, failure to stop for police, OUI liquor, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, operating to endanger, and a marked lanes violation. He was also wanted on an unrelated case out of Leominster.
Bail was set at $5,000 and will be transferred to Leominster police to face the charges there. He will be arraigned for the Townsend crash another time.
