A driver lost control in a San Mateo neighborhood Friday morning, hit an embankment and flew over a swimming pool before crashing into a home, according to police.
The crash happened at about 7:10 a.m. in the area of Murphy and Ashwood drives, police said.
The driver and a passenger in the Tesla SUV escaped unharmed, police said. No one was inside the home at the time of the crash.
The driver, said to be about 70 years old, somehow lost control as they were coming down a hill, San Mateo police Officer Jerami Surratt said. The car continued onto a driveway, went over the embankment and was sent flying over the backyard pool before landing halfway inside the house.
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"You don't normally see a car flying through the air over a swimming pool into a house," Surratt said. "That is kind of a new thing."
The house was red-tagged, Surratt said.
Police said, among other things, they will be investigating to see if something went wrong with the Tesla.
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"If there was a malfunction with the vehicle or loss of control of the vehicle or anything like that that would lead to what happened here today," Surratt said.
Neighbors said they were relieved that no one was home at the time.
"The woman that lives here, we know that she, every morning, she sits in her backyard and drinks her coffee," Lauren Carmichael said. "We’re like, ‘Thank God that she wasn’t home.'”
Doria Charlson, the homeowner’s daughter, said the fact that her mom wasn’t home makes it easier to deal with the bizarre situation.
“I’ve lived here for almost 30 years and have had no cars flying into our backyard before," Charlson said. "Overwhelmingly, our family is just really glad that no one got hurt, which is pretty miraculous if you saw the car behind me.”
