Stolen car strikes vehicle, sending it crashing into funeral home
DETROIT (WJBK) - It is supposed to be a peaceful time for grieving families and friends but that changed Friday afternoon when Charita Butler says a vehicle came crashing through the side of the Butler Funeral Home on Morang on Detroit's east side.
"The boom literally shook the entire building," said Charita Butler. "My teeth were shaking, my heart was shaking."
SkyFOX captured the aftermath.
Police say three men driving a stolen car ran a stop sign, struck a man who was driving a Buick Enclave SUV, sending his car through the window and brick wall. The collision clipped the front end of Pastor Alan Evans' Lincoln which was parked in front at the time.
"(I heard) the screeching of tires, two hits and then the main hit almost sounded like an explosion where the gentleman came through the window," said Evans.
As they work to repair the hole, Butler says she is just relieved no one was inside the small room and a service in the larger room had just wrapped up. However at the same time people were starting to filter into funeral home for another viewing.
"We were just left here with a car inside our viewing room, thanking the Lord no one was in there no one’s loved one was in there," she said. "That could have been traumatic if someone was in there, they would have been really hurt."
The suspects didn't stick around to find out. Police say two took off on foot and the third suspect jumped in the stolen car and drove off.
As for the man in his 60s whose Enclave was forced into the brick wall - he was taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
"It is the kind of unfortunate thing that continues to happen in our city that we hate to see happen," Evans said.
If losing someone isn't hard enough, people had to pay their final respects to loved ones as crews worked to repair the gaping hole in the brick wall.
"We have to keep going it's not like you can just close down for the day," Butler said. "You just keep going but the families have been really kind today."