Speeding car leaves path of destruction behind in St. Pete neighborhood: Residents
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Residents in a St. Petersburg neighborhood got a terrifying wake up call Tuesday morning.
They said a car sped down their street, 85th Avenue North, at more than 100 miles per hour around 6:15 a.m. Domenic Capobianco and his daughter were in their driveway getting ready to go to work and school.
"She [Capobianco’s daughter] was standing on the passenger side getting ready to get in the car when we heard the acceleration coming down the road," Capobianco said. "Then, I turned to look out the back window, I think from the driver's seat, and all I saw were sparks flying. And by the time I turned to get out of the car, the impact had already happened," he said.
READ: St. Pete police launch campaign to keep pedestrians, bicyclists safe
"It was just a tremendous, loud bang," Capobianco said.
He said the car flew over a speed bump, hit his stepdaughter’s parked car on the street and pushed that car into his next-door neighbor’s house.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I see him start to go," Riley Capobianco, Domenic’s daughter, said. "This is before the speed bumps. I’m seeing him speeding, and I’m like, ‘wow that guy is going really fast,’ not knowing that just in a few seconds that this would cause this entire thing."
"I don't think we saw headlights. We think that he may have turned his headlights off when he turned on to our street from 4th Street trying to elude the police. And so, I don't even know if I would have seen him. So, that really scared me. And also the fact that she was still standing outside of the car, and if he lost control like that, he could have just veered off and just came right up into our house and into the car," Capobianco said.
MORE: Microfund Program makes comeback to help boost St. Pete businesses
Capobianco said deputies with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office were following the man and got there within seconds.
"Seeing my car like that and seeing the damage, it was really scary," Capobianco’s stepdaughter, Emilee Traina, said. "I was thinking about if I was in the car, because if it had been an hour later, I would have been in my car leaving."
Traina’s car slammed into their neighbor’s five-year-old’s room. Imad Hadabah said thankfully, his son wasn’t home at the time.
"He would have been asleep in his bed," Hadabah said. "Thank God he’s with his mom today," Hadabah said.
Hadabah said he slept through the crash and woke up to Capobianco’s phone call.
"He was like, ‘you just said you need to come out here, man. There's an accident in front of the house and my daughter's car is in your son's bedroom,’" Hadabah said. "I was confused. I got up and I had to come see. Obviously, I was like, ‘sheesh.’ Yeah, I had no words for it."
"I could have been laying in the bed with my son. We both could have been taken out," Hadabah said.
The neighbors said the man who was driving the car was pretty badly injured. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said it can’t release any information right now, because it’s an active, significant investigation.