Teen driver crashes into home

NEW PORT RICHEY - A car driven by a teenager crashed into a house early Friday morning. The two girls inside the car told Florida Highway Patrol investigators they were out looking for the passenger’s boyfriend when the driver lost control and wound up slamming into a house.

Troopers say the driver was heading down Glissade Drive when the teen accidentally sideswiped another car. That’s when she lost control, drove through a front yard, and crashed into the house.

“My wife and I were just getting ready for bed,” said Michael Whaley. “We were walking into the bathroom and we heard this god awful crash. I came outside, saw the car where you see it now.”

The Chevy Lumina hit the garage and part of the house. The impact pinned Whaley’s van inside the garage.

The crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Investigators say the 17-year-old driver told them she was on the cell phone one minute before the crash happened. However, troopers aren’t confirming that and can’t say whether that contributed to the crash.

Whaley says his main concern was seeing if the two girls inside the car were OK.

“I asked both kids, they were 18 or so I guess, I asked them if either were hurt,” he said. “They said they were fine. I said, ‘OK, just sit in the car, the police are on their way.”

Investigators say they found a carton of eggs in the backseat. Troopers say the girls were looking for the passenger’s boyfriend’s car to egg it. They believed he was cheating.

There’s about $20,000 in damage to Whaley’s house. But the retired police officer didn’t seem too upset.

“I got insurance,” he said. “Everybody got insurance, everybody goes home happy.”

Troopers cited the 17-year-old with careless driving.