Driver flees police, crashes into Elgin house
After Friday's repeat of a car smashing into her front porch and two close calls last summer, Elgin homeowner Georgia Taylor McKinzie wants action to prevent more disasters.
"I wish the city would do something," she said. "Someone's going to get hurt." Elgin police on Saturday were discussing possible charges with prosecutors after a man's car slammed into Taylor McKinzie's home in the 400 block of State Street at 11:30 p.m.
To make matters worse, her home was condemned hours after the crash by city officials who feared structural damage made it unsafe.
Saturday was a blur of activity for Taylor McKinzie who was supervising workmen, talking to insurance agents and looking for a place to live for her dog and two sons, who are 18 and 21.
She was with her dog, watching television and experienced a sickening déjà vu when the car barreled into her home.
Seventeen years ago, McKinzie Taylor's porch was hit by another driver. And last summer, two vehicles careened across her front yard, one striking a neighbor's house.
"When you live on Route 31, you learn to hear the sound ... it wrenches your gut," she said. "It's a sound of an automobile going crunch. It's very distinct once you know it."
Taylor McKinzie and her oldest son, who was also at home, weren't injured but the driver of the car she described as a red Scion had to be extricated and was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries Saturday.
The man's identity was not available.
The driver caught the attention of officers when he committed a traffic offense on Orange Street near Moseley Street around 11:30 p.m., Elgin police Cmdr. Colin Fleury said.
Police attempted a stop but the driver sped east without halting at the intersection where Orange dead-ends into State Street (Route 31), Fleury said. Officers did not chase the vehicle for safety reasons.
Authorities told Taylor McKinzie the speedometer on the car had stopped at 60 mph.
The sofa she was sitting on was covered with shards of glass from broken windows after the car smacked into her living room wall.
"It hit the structural wall of the house and in my basement, there's a huge crack going down the length of the wall."
She praised police and firefighters for their help but is frustrated about the ongoing traffic problems. Vehicles speed down Orange Street and too often drivers "blow the stop sign," Taylor McKinzie explained.
The dog Taylor McKinzie adopted from a shelter more than a year ago is "beside herself," she said. "She won't leave my side."