Joseph and Pauline Morello stand in front of their damaged Culver Dr. home. A vehicle crashed into the home early April 19, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)Joseph and Pauline Morello stand in front of their damaged Culver Dr. home. A vehicle crashed into the home early April 19, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)
London

Mustang Crashes Into East London Home

While speeding vehicles on Culver Dr. are nothing new to Pauline and Joseph Morello, this is the first time one has ended up crashing into the front of their duplex.

The couple was asleep upstairs when a Ford Mustang heading east on Culver Dr. jumped the curb, mowed down an evergreen tree, and slammed into the front of their home around 4am on Wednesday.

"All of the sudden it was like a big, tremendous boom. Like a bomb at 4am," said Pauline, who celebrated her 77 birthday on Tuesday.

The crash knocked brick off the two-storey home and caused structural damage estimated at $40,000.

Had it not been for the insistence of Joseph, Pauline would have been asleep on the downstairs sofa that sits in front of the window where the crash happened.

"I wanted to sleep on the couch last night because I wasn't feeling good," said Pauline. "Joseph told me no, he wanted me upstairs so he could keep an eye on me. The doctor ordered him to watch me because I just had heart failure again. So I stayed in the bed."

Anita Garnet, who lives in the other half of the duplex, was asleep on her couch, just a couple of feet from where the vehicle hit. After hearing the loud bang, Garnet ran to her front steps to see two men walking away from the wreckage.

"I screamed at them to get back here, that they can't just leave," said Garnet, who rushed to check on the Morellos, her neighbours for the past two years.

London police identified a man who showed up to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries shortly after the crash as the driver of the Mustang. Charges against the man are pending.

The Morellos have lived at 1732 Culver Dr. since moving to Canada from Australia 42 years ago. In that time, Pauline said she has noticed an in increase in the speed vehicles travel down the winding road.

"Cars, buses, they treat it like a racetrack," said Pauline.

Garnet echoed Pauline's concern about speeding vehicles. She said she would like the city to install speed bumps or step up police patrols to nab speeders.

"I'm scared to let my two kids cross the road to get to the park," said Garnet.

A vehicle crashed into the front of a duplex on Culver Dr., April 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Anita Garnet.A vehicle crashed into the front of a duplex on Culver Dr., April 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Anita Garnet.

A vehicle crashed into the front of a duplex on Culver Dr., April 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Anita Garnet.A vehicle crashed into the front of a duplex on Culver Dr., April 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Anita Garnet.

A vehicle crashed into the front of a duplex on Culver Dr., April 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Anita Garnet.A vehicle crashed into the front of a duplex on Culver Dr., April 19, 2017. Photo courtesy of Anita Garnet.

Damage to a home on Culver Dr. from a crash involving a single-vehicle, April 19, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)Damage to a home on Culver Dr. from a crash involving a single-vehicle, April 19, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News.)

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