Cab crashes into Glendale Heights house, pins resident to bed

A Glendale Heights man says he thought he was dreaming when he woke suddenly to the sight of headlights and the sound of a revving car engine just inches from his face.

He quickly realized it was all too real, though, when he felt his head and brushed pine needles from his hair.

Shawn Grisch, 53, of the 1800 block of Gregory Avenue, found himself trapped between rubble from his damaged home and an idling taxi about 1 a.m. Monday after the cab crashed through a brick wall and glass window into his bedroom.

"My legs were pinned under the front of the car, on the bed, and I couldn't move," Grisch said Monday afternoon from his hospital bed at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, where he is being treated for broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a cut on his spleen. "Headlights were in my eyes and 'Cab 303' was on the front fender right next to me. There was so much stuff everywhere."

Grisch's wife, Christine Grisch, said she was just heading to bed when she heard a revving engine and squealing tires.

"I ran in there and Shawn was pinned. The dog was under the car, so I pulled her out. And my bushes and treadmill are in my bathroom," she said. "The guy got out of the car, and that's when I think I yelled, 'Where's the gun?' and that's when he ran out of there."

Police and the driver's boss were still looking for him Monday night.

Deputy Police Chief Steve Ewoldt said Christine Grisch described the driver as a Hispanic man, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall with a stocky build who was wearing a white T-shirt. A K-9 team unsuccessfully attempted to track the driver.

Ewoldt said an open bottle of alcohol was found in the cab.

The owner of a Lombard taxi company says the driver has not worked or been heard from since Saturday morning.

Toni Diperte, co-owner of Flat Rate Cab Dispatch, said the man assigned to the car has been leasing the taxi from the company since July with no problems. But she said he failed to report for work Saturday night.

"What these guys do in their own time is their business, but I've been trying to call him since Saturday night because he was supposed to work," Diperte said Monday.

She declined to disclose the driver's name but said she's given it to investigators.

"He's a nice, clean-cut kid with a spotless driving record," Diperte said. "I have no idea how it happened. I can tell you I'm as shocked as that poor homeowner."

Diperte, who said the police woke her at 1:30 a.m., said the driver has not responded to her calls and texts urging him to turn himself in.

"I've seen the pictures (of the house) and it's a really scary situation," she said. "I'm so glad the people are all going to be OK."

Grisch, meanwhile, said he can't believe his luck when it comes to car crashes on his property.

"It hasn't even been a year since a drunk driver totaled his car after crashing into a tree in my front yard," he said. "Thankfully no one was killed then, either."