A car swerved off the road and into a Montebello apartment complex on Sunday, leaving the driver and passenger with minor injuries. Although no other injuries were reported, the building's residents remain under evacuation while the structure's safety is assessed, fire officials said.
The 21-year-old driver, Chris Gonzalez, and his friend were driving down the 800 block of North Wilcox Avenue when another driver cut him off, he said.
"I swerved and tried getting back into my lane and all hell broke loose," Gonzalez said.
The 21-year-old lost control of his Honda Accord, flew across the street and landed into the side of the apartment building near the carport around 4 p.m. His car crashed into a tree and struck another car inside the carport.
Gonzalez said he and his passenger were OK, despite some cuts and bruises from the collision.
"We're lucky. We're very lucky," Gonzalez said. “Thank the Lord, man. I saw my life go past me, no lie. I really did.”
His car, however, was totaled.
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The 12-unit apartment building was evacuated after the crash so that an engineer could assess the building’s safety.
“Right now it’s currently fine. You throw a 7.0 earthquake on top of the damage that’s done, we don’t know how it will react,” Montebello Fire Battalion Chief Dan France said.
