A homeowner on McKinley Avenue had a lot of debris to sweep up Thursday evening after a dramatic rescue took place in his driveway.
It was a tense situation around 3 p.m. near McKinley and West in Fresno. A woman was unloading groceries from her SUV when the man behind the wheel of a Lincoln town car smashed into it, causing the SUV to flip on its side.
“She ended up inside the car mostly, but her foot stayed outside and the car kind of rolled over,” said Koby Johns of the Fresno Fire Dept.
Investigators say the SUV was actually parked in a dirt lot and then the suspect's car pushed it across a chain link fence, into the neighbor's driveway and on to the woman.
“The vehicle wasn't resting on any part of her body. She was conscious, she was stable, she was talking to us, but there was no way to get her out of the vehicle,” said Johns.
Firefighters needed to move the SUV to create some working space so they tied straps and chains around a nearby tree to stabilize the vehicle and prevent it from falling on her.
“We used pieces of wood and big heavy lifting airbags to essentially push against the vehicle,” said Johns.
After a total of 24 minutes, firefighters were able to free the woman. She was immediately loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
“She's really fortunate. Everything went right for her in sort of a bizarre way. It worked out really well,” said Johns.
Meanwhile, police are looking for the driver of the Lincoln. He ran away following the crash.
An interesting fact is that officers found an empty gun holster tucked between the seats.
“We did not find a weapon in the car itself,” said James Beebe of the Fresno Police Dept.
But having the car should provide cops some good leads.
“We have pulled some fingerprints off it and pulled blood samples for DNA, so we'll get him.
It's just a matter of time,” said Beebe.
As for the woman’s injuries, police say she complained of some back pain and may have broken her ankle.