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Three people were injured when a stolen car barreled into the living room of a Mead Valley home Tuesday like a high-speed wrecking ball, demolishing walls and crushing furniture, officials said.
The crash on dimly lit Haines Street caused so much damage that it forced the homeowner to climb out his bedroom window to escape, witnesses and the California Highway Patrol said.
The three-bedroom home was later condemned and deemed uninhabitable, and the driver of the car -- a Perris woman -- was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of methamphetamine, among other charges.
"The most unbelievable thing I ever saw," said next-door neighbor Sandee Robertson, whose trailer was damaged by debris that flew almost 90 feet from the crash site. "It was like something from a horror movie."
It started at 2:24 a.m., when a Riverside County sheriff's deputy saw a green 1997 Ford Mustang driving north on Haines at speeds nearing 90 mph.
Before the deputy could begin a pursuit, the driver lost control, hitting a dip and veering off the road, said investigating CHP Officer William Bozyk.
The Mustang was traveling so fast that it plowed another 350 feet, through a dirt field and a fence, before crashing into the garage of the home in the 17900 block of Haines.
After going though the garage, the car continued into the living room, Bozyk said, directly striking a couch where 40-year-old Lenora Womack was sleeping near her son, Eric York.
Womack, who is dating the homeowner, Mike Bonnett, suffered minor injuries, Bozyk said, although Riverside County firefighters originally transported her to a hospital in critical condition.
Her teenage son also was treated and released from the hospital.
The Mustang trapped both inside the living room.
"It's very uncommon for people to get out of something like this practically unscathed," Bozyk said.
The car's driver, 28-year-old Iris Lago, suffered glass cuts to her hand and face and bruising to her chest. After being treated at Riverside County Regional Medical Center, she was booked in jail on suspicion of auto theft, possession of stolen property and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
Authorities suspect the car was stolen from Romoland on Monday. The Riverside County sheriff's deputy who saw the car speeding did not know it was stolen when he began his pursuit, Bozyk said.
Robertson said that she feels badly for Bonnett, who now has nowhere to live.
"It ripped a big, huge hole in the side of the house," Robertson said. "Pretty devastating."
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