Phone Left in SUV Points to Neighbor in Escondido Roof Crash: Homeowners

Tire marks indicate the SUV came from up the hill, police say the driver failed to negotiate the turn

When a BMW SUV sailed through the air and landed inside the garage of an Escondido home early Wednesday, the driver escaped the crash and police. Now, the investigation appears to point to someone living on the street, the homeowners tell NBC 7.

Good fences may make good neighbors but Erin Strother does not have a wall high enough to prevent the mess left behind by the early morning crash.

"It's really sad . They did find a cell phone and they did link that to a person on our street. So that is pretty uncool," Strother said.

Escondido Police say they have a person of interest but can't yet prove he was behind the wheel of that SUV that sailed through the roof of the home on Hubbard Place.

Tire marks indicate the SUV came from up the hill, police say the driver failed to negotiate the turn.

The vehicle was airborne for some 40 feet then crashed through the roof, now covered with the blue tarp.

Police say the cell phone is owned by the man they identify as a person of interest. The same guy who borrowed this BMW from a Vista car dealer. The same guy found skulking in the bushes after the accident.

But police say he has denied responsibility.

NBC 7 left a message on the man’s home phone, attempted contact through visitors and even tried to get his attention from the hill behind his house. All with no result.

"We're going to get him through his insurance or one way or the other. Not really neighborly? No not so much," Strother said.

SUV Crashes Through Roof of Escondido Home: Images

Erin and her husband George were sleeping at the opposite end of their home at the time of the crash. When they saw the damage, they thought they would find a driver suffering from multiple serious injuries.
“We were looking for some mangled, horrible corpse,” Strother said.

The airbags deployed, automatically triggering a call to 911 but the driver, uninjured , escaped through a rear door.

"I would much rather him be gone then be dead,” Strother said.

Police say they arrested the person of interest after the crash on an unrelated charge and that he has denied driving the SUV through the roof.

The Strothers plan to attend a future Escondido City Council meeting to discuss putting up a guardrail along the road above their home.
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