Emergency crews rushed to Rancho San Diego Tuesday after a driver plowed through a retaining wall, flying down an embankment and landing in someone's yard in a crash one witness described as "thunderous."
The collision was reported just before 7:40 a.m. at Jamacha and Grove roads. California Highway Patrol (CHP) and Cal Fire officials were called to the area after a driver in a black Mustang collided with a truck, veered off the road, slammed through a retaining wall, flew 30 feet down an embankment and finally came to rest in someone's backyard.
“A thunderous explosion,” said Roumaldo Romero, describing the crash, which he literally felt from his home nearby. “It was thunderous. I mean, it was loud. It reverberated throughout this little valley we have here.”
The driver of the mangled Mustang was trapped inside the car and crews had to rescue him, Cal Fire's Kendal Bortisser said. Both he and the driver of the truck were taken to local hospital with unspecified injuries.
No other injuries were reported.
CHP officials said the driver of the Mustang appeared to be speeding as he drove over the hill on Jamacha Road. The driver of the truck was preparing to make a turn when the crash occurred.
Once the Mustang landed in the yard, glass and debris from the vehicle flew in all directions. The front of the car was ripped off and smoke billowed from the wreckage. Some patio chairs and a tarp were also damaged in the crash, a mess left behind in the yard. However, the driver did not crash into the home.
Local
Romero told NBC 7 he rushed to help the driver of the Mustang, a young man in his 20s, and held his hand until emergency crew arrived. Romero said the driver said his shoulder and leg were hurt in the crash.
Some residents said this isn’t the first time a crash like this has happened in the neighborhood.
The accident is under investigation. Further details have not yet been released.