A few precious moments were all that stood between a Fremont resident and serious injury as a van crashed into her home.

The crash happened on Monday at around 9:40 a.m. at the intersection of Barnard Drive and Isherwood Avenue in North Fremont.

It turns out the van that crashed into the house was stolen.

After failing to make a left onto Isherwood, it jumped the curb and plowed into a home where the lone occupant was getting ready for work.

Her hands are still shaking, and wanting to remain anonymous, the woman tells KRON4 she had just stepped into the backyard of her home when she heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the garage.

“I was screaming, I was panicked, it’s not like anything I have ever experienced,” she said. “It was just so dramatic.”

Stolen from a window washer just up the street, the van plowed through the closed garage doors, snapped a load-bearing wall, and came to a stop in the living room.

Crews had to shore up a support beam to extract the van, which caused heavy damage to the home and its contents.  

“A neighbor came over, and he climbed over the car, and he came inside, and he was looking
for people,” the woman said. “And he came, and he found me in the backyard.”

The homeowner was not hurt while the female driver of the stolen van was hospitalized. 

Police said skid marks on the street indicate the vehicle was going very fast as it clipped another car before crashing into the home as its resident was getting ready to leave.

“I could have been in my garage, it missed me by a few minutes because I was getting ready for work,” the woman said. “A few minutes earlier, and it would have been a different outcome.”

Said by police to be uncooperative at the scene, the driver of the stolen van suffered non-life-threatening injuries.  

She is facing felony auto theft and possibly other charges.

Damage to the home is said to be extensive.

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