‘Surreal’: SUV crashes into Georgetown Township home

GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Deputies are investigating after a man drove into a residence in Georgetown Township late Sunday morning, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says. Just after 11:30 a.m., deputies responded to reports that an SUV had struck a home on Windgate Drive near Pine Street. According to the sheriff's office, the SUV crashed into the home's attached garage before coming to a rest on the front porch. A preliminary investigation showed that the man left the roadway, drove through multiple yards and finally stopped when his car hit the garage and porch, deputies said. "I started hear this bunch of thuds, and I turn around and this guy is just coming right down the street and taking out every one of the mailboxes," said Scott Smith, an eyewitness who lived on the other side of the street. The SUV's driver, a 54-year-old Jenison man, was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. No other injuries were reported in the crash. "He was completely out of it. His foot was, depressed on the gas pedal still, and the engine was revving up really high. So I was able to get his foot off the gas pedal, slam it into park, unbuckle him, wake him up. He made the comment to me that, he thought that somebody was hitting him from behind. So he was really completely out of it," Smith said. According to eyewitnesses, the car turned onto Windgate Drive from Baldwin Street and ran through nine yards, taking out mailboxes and spilling oil. Despite the distance traveled, no one was injured. "It's a blessing for sure nobody was outside. I mean, you can see there's cars parked on the street, up and down, nonstop. There were no cars in the way, so nobody got hurt, no cars got damaged," Smith said. The homeowner, Ann Tubergen, said she and her family weren't home when the car crashed into their garage. "It was really surreal to hear a phone from our neighbor Ryan to like, over our because we were driving and we're like, 'why is Ryan calling us like that?' Just doesn't happen. And he's like, 'you need to come home now.' We're like, 'why? Like, that doesn't make sense because we're on our way to my in-laws house for lunch.' And, he's like, 'you know, a car hit your house. We're like, 'oh, what now?'" Tubergen said. Tubergen said she has lived there with her family for 24 years. At this time they do not know the extent of damage, but Tubergen said they are able to stay in their home. She said she's thankful the ending wasn't worse. "Being that we're halfway down the street, we might think my middle child counted where? Nine houses down. And you would not think that a car would travel that far and hit our house in that location. When we were driving here, we thought it was coming from the other direction, because if they would have come from that direction, it would have ended up in our living room. You know, and that's where my kids sit, like on their computer or. And just how much more, how much worse it could have been if we were home," Tubergen said. The sheriff's office is investigating, but initial reports indicate that the crash was not caused by a medical emergency. He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and the homeowner and neighbors said they hope he is doing okay.