‘It was so devastating’: Stolen car crashes into front of DeKalb home

A 71-year-old woman woke up Friday morning to the sound of a car crashing through the front of her DeKalb County home.

“It was so devastating, the sound. Like the house was tumbling in,” Carolyn Burgess told AJC.com. “I couldn’t look out the window right away. All I could do was get myself together.”

DeKalb police said the Ford SUV was stolen shortly before the driver crashed into Burgess’ home on Browns Mill Ferry Road near Lithonia about 8 a.m., taking out the corner of her garage and her front porch.

“As he was trying to escape, the car came into my yard, driveway and knocked down the garage, and as you can see it’s collapsed,” Burgess said.

The driver hopped out and ran off before police got there.

Burgess said that even after officers and EMS arrived to help her out of her damaged home, she was wary of leaving her bedroom on the second floor.

“I was afraid to come downstairs because I didn’t know if someone was in my house,” she said. “I’m still feeling sick inside.”

The incident is under investigation.

—Please return to AJC.com for updates.

In other news:

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed on Friday that there was a ground stop at LaGuardia Airport and that flights are delayed in New York due to air traffic controller absences.

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