SUV hits Westside home; driver lands on couch

No one hurt inside home on Spring Lake Road and Wilson Boulevard

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An SUV hit a home on the Westside early Friday morning, ejecting the driver onto the couch in the living room of a home at the intersection of Spring Lake Road and Wilson Boulevard.

"At approximately 3:05 this morning, a vehicle was westbound on Wilson Boulevard, failed to negotiate a curve, ran off the road, knocked over a mailbox and some trees, ended up hitting a house," said Detective J.C. Hurst, of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

IMAGES: SUV slams into Westside home

The driver was ejected and ended up on the couch in the living room, upside down. He was transported to UF Health Jacksonville with non-life-threatening injuries.

Two women who were in the home were not hurt.

"I did see somebody on the couch in my neighbors living room, sitting there," neighbor Samantha James said.

The driver was a 24-year-old man, but his name was not immediately released.

A stroller was seen on the ground outside the SUV. Police believe a stroller came from inside the damaged vehicle, but a child was not inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Police said speed was a factor and they were investigating whether alcohol was also a factor, but noted it was too early in the investigation to tell.

Crews came out to clean the mess and boarded up the home.

"It's shocking. I can't believe it was in there and upside down or sideways," neighbor Julia Ewens said.

Neighbors say speed is an issue in this area, but they never thought it would come to this.

"I think it's safe at this end, but people do speed a lot on this road here, I noticed and they fly down this road all the time," James said.

"Our mailbox they hit all the time," Ewens said. "We've moved it three times and they keep finding it still."

Neighbors say there should be a stop sign or signal letting people know there's a curve coming up.

"That curve, they don't realize it's there until it's too late, so then they hit," Ewens said.

Neighbors hope people realize they need to slow down so a crash like this doesn't happen again.

"It's something that just happened," neighbor Gladys Rentas said."We've been living here for the last nine years, so this is something unusual to see."