Durham Police are investigating a serious crash that happened early Friday morning near South Roxboro Street, after a vehicle apparently struck a home and ended up tangled between two large trees. The crash occurred shortly after 1 a.m., and officers got the call around 3 a.m. By the time they arrived, a nearby house appeared to have suffered structural damage to its roof.
Cedar News reported that officers found a vehicle caught between large trees and a nearby home with apparent roof damage. The outlet said it was not clear whether anyone was inside the home. The woman driving the vehicle was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Durham police, as reported by WRAL, which also covered the incident.
As of Friday morning, investigators had not determined what led to the crash, Cedar News reported. Durham Police had not announced whether citations would be issued.
A String of Home-Involved Crashes Around the Triangle
This is not the first time a vehicle has ended up inside — or on top of — a North Carolina home in recent months. In Cumberland County, a woman crashed into a tree and then hit a house early one Sunday morning, according to WRAL. That crash happened around 3 a.m. on Dobbin Holmes Road near Dunn Road in Eastover, after the driver's car flipped; she was extracted by first responders and airlifted to the hospital, while at least two people inside the house were not injured.
Closer to home, Durham has seen more than one vehicle-into-house incident this year. A car crashed into a Durham couple's home on University Drive one Thursday evening, causing damage throughout the house — including to the roof, windows, flooring and electrical system, the homeowners told WRAL at the time. And in a separate incident, two drivers were injured when a Durham police vehicle collided with a sedan at South Roxboro Road and Cornwallis Road, according to ABC11; both drivers sustained minor injuries and were taken to a hospital.
Not Always a Dramatic Outcome
Some car-into-house crashes result in only minor injuries. In Apex, two homeowners suffered minor injuries after crashing their own car into the front of their house one Wednesday evening, according to the News & Observer. Police and firefighters responded to that scene on Baberton Drive at 6:30 p.m., and no one else was inside the home at the time.
A Raleigh Comparison
In a Dec. 12, 2024, report, CBS 17, citing Raleigh Police, described a separate crash in which a car traveling on Honeycutt Road went through the Falls of Neuse Road intersection and hit a Lake Tree Drive home. One person was in the car and had to be rescued; the home was unoccupied. In the Durham crash, the woman driving was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while whether the home was occupied has not been confirmed.
For now, the Friday morning crash near South Roxboro Street remains under investigation. The woman driving was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries; whether the home was occupied and what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway remain unclear. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
