04:12 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Houma Courier

HOUMA -- An east-Houma couple got an evening phone call from a neighbor Monday, alerting them that their house had been hit by an out-of-control car -- again.

(SABREE HILL/THE COURIER)

Rosemary Wilson of Houma examines the damage her car sustained after a motorist, the victim of an alleged carjacking, hit Wilsons Tulane Avenue house and the car, which was parked under the carport.

Rosemary and Charles Wilson Jr. own a home at 151 Tulane Ave. that sits several houses away from the corner, an unlikely place for a car to strike, Rosemary said. Around 5:30 p.m., while the couple was at an ailing relative’s house, a 1999 Mazda 626 crashed through the yard and smashed into their 1995 Mercury Marquis, breaking its glass and warping the body, but not before tearing up a fence and carport posts.

Police said the 33-year-old driver told them she was driving on East Street when a man jumped into her car. When she got to Tulane Avenue, her assailant allegedly grabbed her money and yanked the steering wheel, causing the car to crash into the house. She said he ran away after the crash.

The suspect is described as a black man in his early 20s with a fade haircut wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, a police release states. According to investigators, the man uses the name Mike, though it’s unclear if that’s his name or an alias. Police say bystanders saw the crash and the man flee afterwards.

While Rosemary Wilson said she’s not sure she believes the entire story, as none of her neighbors saw the suspect, she’s glad the girl -- whose name has not been released -- was not hurt in the crash. Wilson, 64, is distressed about her totaled car, however; it was paid for and in good condition, she said.

"I don’t want the car anymore -- I know something’s wrong with the axle or the transmission," Wilson said. "She almost ran it into the dining room, the way the car moved."

The smashed Mercury still sits in Wilson’s carport, waiting to be towed, while Rosemary Wilson drives a rental and waits for the driver’s insurance information to arrive. Wilson said she can’t use the carport door because the car is pressed so close against it.

Wilson said her home weathered a similar assault years ago, when a girl learning how to drive lost control of her car and sped into the yard. The damage was not so extensive the first time, Wilson said, mainly limited to the fence, but the coincidence strikes her as odd, she said -- the road bears no aberration, such as a curve, to make her house a better target than any other.

"It must be a bad luck spot, to pass up two houses and hit mine," Wilson said.

The investigation into the crash is in its early phases and a suspect has not yet been identified, Houma Police Lt. Duane Farmer said Tuesday evening.

In the news release, Police Chief Pat Boudreaux warned drivers to keep windows closed and doors locked while driving, with valuables out of sight and a keen eye toward any suspicious activity around the car.