Car crashes into house; driver injured
It's a good thing William Arentz was already awake. Otherwise he would have had the Cadillac of all wake-up calls just before 5 a.m. Thursday.
Police say Robert Ludford IV of Cary faces drunken driving charges after crashing his 1999 Cadillac into Arentz's home by the Fox River near Cary. Ludford, 22, is in fair condition at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, where he was taken after emergency workers extricated him from the car, which was lodged several feet into the front of the home at 28100 Fox River Road.
"I've had better days," said homeowner Arentz, who was not injured. "At first it was so loud, the crash and the glass, the first thing that hit my mind was it was a small plane ... it was extremely, extremely loud.
"Then I saw there was a car in my living room."
His dog, Sierra, had just woke him but Arentz was still in bed when he heard the loud boom at 4:48 a.m. "My bedroom door to the vehicle was probably 10 to 12 feet and the car was six to seven feet into the house," said Arentz, adding he was going "through a little bit of a rush at the time.
"Everything shot out of my kitchen cabinets. Glasses rocketed off of the shelves, the kitchen floor is down four inches ... it's a mess."
He thinks his cat, Bob, had been on the couch, which was thrown across the room amid the chaos. Neither she nor Sierra were injured, though Bob stayed in hiding much of the day Thursday, he said.
Despite the damage, the Lake Zurich school bus driver said he was only worried that the driver was OK.
"I have material damage. This is wood, glass, concrete that can be repaired," Arentz said. "I just hope everything works out OK."
Lake County Sheriff's police and Cary Fire Protection District crews responded, finding Ludford trapped in his car inside the home, almost 200 feet off the roadway.
Deputy Fire Chief William Gitzke said rescuers initially called for a Flight for Life helicopter but it was unavailable due to weather conditions at the time.
Police say the collision left the home uninhabitable. Lake County Building and Zoning officials contacted ComEd to turn off the power and declared the home unsafe.
"It caused severe damage, estimated in excess of $25,000," sheriff spokesman Sgt. Christopher Thompson said. "The homeowner will have to make other living arrangements until the structural damage can be repaired."
Ludford was charged with driving under the influence, improper lane usage and not wearing a seat belt, police said.
Arentz said he will likely stay with his brother while his home is being repaired and since he doesn't return to work for another three weeks. "I just hope things work out for the best," he said.