JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Stephanie Banks spent Friday cleaning up a big mess.
“This is my dresser. I had to clean all this,” said Banks as she pointed to a corner in her bedroom. “I’ve been cleaning all day.”
Banks was in her bed early Friday morning when a car crashed into her Jefferson Parish home, just feet away from where she was sleeping.
“I was l laying right here, laying right here and then I hear this boom and stuff was falling on me from over here and over here, but the part of the car was right here,” said Banks. “That’s where I see the lights and smoke.”
Jefferson Parish authorities say that car was stolen during a carjacking in Metairie on April 24. Officers spotted it on Lapalco Boulevard, beginning a chase down Wall Boulevard, which turns into Lake Timberlane Drive, leading into Stonebridge Subdivision. Lake Timberlane Drive ends abruptly, right at Banks’ home.
“I couldn’t believe it because the lights were still blinking, and it was a black car and it was like right here,” said Banks.
Banks says the man and woman inside the car ran off behind her home. Authorities are still looking for them.
“I was scared. The police were here. They told us to go back in the houses, people are armed,” said Banks.
This isn’t’ the first time something like this has happened. Back on December first an SUV slammed into Banks’ neighbor’s home, two houses down.
“Twice in five months,” said Banks. “Twice in five months,”
In that December crash, neighbors say a teenage girl stole a family member’s SUV, leading officers on a chase. It ended up in the homeowner’s living room, busting a gas line. That caused surrounding homes to be evacuated.
“It’s kind of concerning this seems to be now repetitive,” said a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified.
This concerned neighbor heard screeching tires both times.
“This isn’t an area that well-trafficked unless you live here so I think that a lot of these people are just trying to get away and they just drive straight and then the screeching that I heard is the last second realization, ‘Oh wait, I’m going to hit a house,’” said the neighbor.
Still getting repairs done from Hurricane Ida, Banks has another big repair job.
“I had just got my roof done,” said Banks. “Now the contractor got to come right back out, go through the insurance company again.”
While frustrated, she’s just glad it’s only property damage.
“I’m going to have to get me some barriers right in front of my house so this will never happen again,” said Banks.