Early Monday morning in Gresham, chaos ensued as a car barreled into an apartment complex, uprooting the lives of the tenants within. The incident, which occurred just before 4 a.m. at the Suite Briar Apartments, was catalyzed by a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Northeast Glisan Street and 172nd Avenue. As reported by KPTV, one car was sent careening into the residential building, displacing a family, though it resulted in no physical harm to the occupants.
Resident Stacey Pennycook described the intrusion of a vehicle into her domestic space, "I come out here cause I hear like commotion and I see a car right here. Like, and I’m like, then I put two-and-two like, ‘oh, there’s a car wreck.’ And so I go back in my house and I’m like, ‘holy crap, there’s a car in my house,’" Pennycook told KPTV. Pennycook, her son, and their two pets were fortunate to avoid injury from the unforeseen accident; however, the family now faces the daunting challenge of finding new lodgings in its wake.
The aftermath of the crash left a profound imprint, both physically and psychologically, on the residents. In a statement to KGW, Pennycook expressed her anxiety and the uncertainty of their housing situation, revealing that without renters' insurance and already teetering on the edge of financial stability, the road ahead is uncertain: "In disbelief like and think know all the things of 'Where am I going to go? What am I going to do? Because obviously, I can't live there with a whole in my wall.'"
The driver, whose car was jettisoned into the building, was taken to the hospital with injuries, but they were not life-threatening, according to KPTV. Another perspective was provided by a local man, who reported to KATU News that the crash was a result of a woman running a red light and being side-swiped, causing her car to slam into the apartment complex.
Further elucidating the chaos of the incident, the resident recounted that her son, who works nights, may have been in the dining room at the time of the crash had he been off work. "If it would've been his day off, he probably would have been in that kitchen cooking around 4 a.m. in the morning when this happened," Pennycook related to KGW. Despite the property damage and the upheaval inflicted upon the family, there's solace in the absence of physical injuries among the residents and pets.
