A driver crashed a stolen car into a transformer and then into a home Thursday morning while a family was home in Lorton, Virginia, police say. The crash ignited a house fire and caused neighbors to lose power for several hours.
People in the area began calling police about someone trying to break into their cars just before 5 a.m. When officers arrived in the Lorton Valley neighborhood, they saw a suspect inside a black BMW SUV and told him to get out of the car.
The suspect then sped down the road, crashing into an electrical transformer and a two-story home on Whitehaven Court and 5th Place, at the end of a cul-de-sac. The impact of the crash caused both the car and the house to burst into flames.
Fairfax County police reported the crash and fire just before 6 a.m. The home is near Interstate 95.
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George Davidson, his wife and their three young children were home at the time of the crash, but none of them were injured. They had lived there for only a month and just had gotten their furniture delivered.
“I could see like a bright light flashing into the house and when I went downstairs and looked out the window, I could just see the car sitting right there. Right there, in front of the house,” Davidson said. “And then I could see like a little bit of flames at the bottom.”
The black SUV hit the front left side of the house. The fire melted the vehicle's paint and charred it at the front, gutting the inside.
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The house has broken windows on the first and second floors, video from the scene showed. Some of its red bricks are burned, and damage can be seen inside the home. First responders told the home’s owner that it is structurally sound.
The house next door also appears to have siding damage.
“How did this even happen? It's not like he was being chased by the police, like how did he just happen to just run straight into the house?” Davidson said.
Immediately after the crash, neighbors in the area reported power outages. About 120 nearby customers were without power at 6:20 a.m., according to Dominion Energy's website. Crews worked through extreme heat to replace the transformer and get the power back on. By 11 a.m., only about 50 outages were reported by Dominion Energy in Fairfax County.
Kevin Valdez, the owner of the stolen BMW, said he was surprised this happened in Lorton Valley.
“Yeah, it hurts. You don’t want nobody to take anything from you," Valdez said.
Firefighters remained on the scene for several hours.
Officers continue to search for the driver of the vehicle.
Whitehaven Court was closed during the investigation. A bus stop for Fairfax County public school students was moved to Fifth Place and Dixon Street.
