Updated
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — The woman behind the wheel of a black sedan that slammed into Lisa Bell’s home on Dale Boulevard this evening had a kitten inside her car and became distracted, said Bell. The car left a hole in the brick home of the Prince William County School Board Member, and police and fire and rescue crews were called to the scene.
Bell told Potomac Local News the female driver appeared to be in her early 20s, and that she became distracted while driving west on Dale Boulevard near Bell’s home, hit a car parked at Bell’s neighbor’s home and totaled it, then drove into Bell’s yard, hit a tree, and then continued into the side of Bell’s home.
“Police took the woman away in handcuffs, and we were told she was being taken to a hospital where a breathalyzer test would be given, but I think the poor girl was just in shock,” said a forgiving Bell, who said the woman appeared not to be injured.
There’s no word yet if charges were filed against the driver or who she is.
As police and fire crews mopped up the scene, Bell appeared to have quickly taken charge of the situation — she called a friend and asked them to take the kitten that was inside of the car to be checked out by a veterinarian, and then she called a family member who works as a building contractor to help come shore up her house.
“We can’t turn on any electricity in our basement, and there is no gas in our house right now, but we’re alive and OK,” said Bell, who was thankful about her family not being displaced from her home. “We’ve still got the use of our microwave.”
Bell’s 9-year-old son who was in the basement at the time of the crash but was uninjured and remained shaken Friday night.
Crashes are common along the busy four-lane stretch of Dale Boulevard on which she lives, between a Comcast Cable customer service office and a Dale City Volunteer Fire Department station, said Bell. Many of the homes there sit very close to the roadway, which is a major commuter corridor.
Bell has served on the School Board since 2010 when she was appointed to fill a vacant seat. She was elected to serve her first full four-year term in November 2011.
