Driver strikes house with truck on west side of Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — A driver struck a house with a truck on the west side of Indianapolis Saturday evening.

Public police reporting systems indicate officers were dispatched to the 5000 block of West Morris Street around 5:42 p.m. on a report of a personal injury crash. FOX59 and CBS4 crews at the scene observed a home with heavy damage in the area.

The homeowner, Patrick Conner, who spoke with FOX59 and CBS4, said a truck ran through the front of his house. Conner said it sounded like a bomb had gone off when the driver struck his home.

Conner added that the vehicle broke into his son’s room. When Conner tried to open the door to check on his son, the door wouldn’t open all the way.

“Well, we were sitting there, and it was a typical Saturday,” Conner said. “Then, all of the sudden, we heard something like a bomb went off. We started seeing dust come under the door. So, we ran to the front door.

“A truck was all the way inside my room. I was trying to dig and get my son out.”

Conner said it’s a miracle that his son survived the crash. Conner indicated that his 17-year-old son is currently in the hospital with a broken arm and foot and bruised ribs, among other injuries.

Conner reported that one of his cats also suffered a broken leg during the crash.

“It’s a miracle that my son is alive,” Conner said. “He’s in the hospital right now.”

Conner claimed the person who hit his house climbed out of the vehicle after the crash with a baby in his arms and left the scene. According to Conner, the person ultimately returned to the area after initially moving away from the house.

A public police report indicates 24-year-old Kyle Thomas Phillips was arrested after the crash. He has been preliminarily charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and neglect of a dependent.

Conner claimed the driver who hit the home may have been intoxicated or on drugs during the crash. The police report on the incident does not indicate Phillips was under the influence at the time of his arrest.

Conner said he’s not surprised a car struck his home because drivers speed down the road adjacent to his house frequently.

“They come by here so fast, it’s a blur,” Conner said. “My cameras can’t even keep up with them (because) they come by here so fast. They come through from 80 to 100 miles an hour. It’s over and over and over and over.

“Well, I see all these other places, and they’ve got these signs out, telling you that you’re speeding,” Conner said. “And deterrents, you know, them radar little stands that tell you how fast you’re going, and they start flashing and telling you to slow down. You know, maybe once and a while a police officer could sit there and radar, write a few tickets. You know, do something, man.”

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