Decades old tree may have helped save children after a car came flying towards their home

ZACHARY – A crew worked all day Saturday to repair a home on Rita Drive after a woman’s car went airborne, crashing through the roof.

“When I heard what sounded like an explosion go off, I ran outside, then I seen a man running from the park, pointing, yelling ‘it’s on the roof, it’s on the roof!'” Brandon Lacoste said.

Neighbors tell WBRZ the driver is in the ICU. It may have been a medical emergency that caused the woman to to accelerate through a stop sign and into the home. 

Officers said the woman drove over a ditch, clipped a tree, which forced car to go airborne and crash through the attic of a home.

“Everyone is safe, the female was conscious, EMS removed her, put her in ambulance, then airlifted her to the hospital,” Police Chief David McDavid said Friday night.

Two children were on the couch in the living room at the time.

“It shook them really bad, but after that, after everything calmed down, especially when they found out the lady was ok, they felt better,” Lacoste said.

Lacoste says he and his family have lived next door his entire life. He says more than 40 years ago, the owners planted the tree to prevent drivers from hitting the house.

“Because of Newell Street right here leading straight into his house,” Lacoste said.

He says it’s a decision that may have saved the children.

“If that tree had not been there, that car would be in the front of the house, instead of on the roof. Thank God for 60-year-old construction that the house held together,” Lacoste said.

Lacoste still in shock at what he saw Friday evening.

“It’s hard to grasp a car being upside down on the roof,” Lacoste said.

According to the Zachary Police Department, State Police are helping investigate to determine just how fast the woman was driving.