Car flies off road, crashes into Montebello apartment building

ByABC7.com staff KABC logo
Monday, February 16, 2015
Firefighters examine the damage after a car flew off the road and crashed into an apartment building in Montebello on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015.
Firefighters examine the damage after a car flew off the road and crashed into an apartment building in Montebello on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015.
KABC-KABC

MONTEBELLO, Calif. (KABC) -- A car flew off the side of the road and crashed into part of a parking structure underneath an apartment building in Montebello Sunday afternoon.

The incident was reported at about 2:50 p.m. in the 800 block of North Wilcox Avenue. Driver Chris Gonzalez said he was on his way to his friend's house when a black Honda turned into his lane, causing him to swerve off the road.

"Then my car just spun out. You can see the skid marks and I went flying into the wall," Gonzalez said.

Both Gonzalez and his passenger suffered minor injuries. The Honda fled the scene, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez's car, a 2011 Honda Accord, was totaled. Twelve apartment units were evacuated due to structural damage.

An urban search and rescue team was called to the scene to shore up the building. A contractor and structural engineer later assessed the building for safety.

"Right now it's currently fine. You throw a 7.0 earthquake on top of the damage that's done, we don't know how it'll react," Montebello Fire Department Battalion Chief Dan France said.

None of the apartments were red tagged and all residents were cleared to return home.