Car Slams Into Chicago Ridge Apartment Building

Photos show aftermath of a car vs. building Monday afternoon in Chicago Ridge, including a skid mark in the grass from where the car veered off the street and across the sidewalk.

Chicago Ridge residents said that a driver plowed into their apartment building Monday afternoon, narrowly missing a neighbor who had to run through the front hallway to avoid being hit.

The car, possibly a Chevy, was traveling at a high rate of speed when it hit the front of the building in the 7000 block of West 99th Street, around 2:30 p.m.

The reader who sent these photos said that the female driver was arrested at the scene. According to the reader, she heard the driver tell police she was learning how to drive. The car was traveling so fast that it bounced off the building when it hit it. The car was totaled. Neighbors think the car may have been going as fast as 50mph down the side street.

“Most of the tenants were home,” said the reader who sent these photos and asked that her name not be used. “We were about to leave and we’re very fortunate that I decided to make a baby bottle for my 10-month-old for the car ride. We felt the house shake we almost fell to the floor. I opened the door and saw all the glass on the floor.”

Another neighbor, Jeneen Jaber, who lives across the street from the building, said that police put the driver and her male passenger into separate police vehicles.

“We heard what sounded like a loud boom, like a firework,” Jaber said. “What was scary was that the car went over the sidewalk. We have 15 to 20 kids who are out playing here regularly.”

The driver and passenger were not injured, but the woman caught in the hallway ended up in the emergency room later in the evening to have glass removed from her legs.

“She was in shock and didn’t want to go into an ambulance at the scene.” the reader said.

Jaber said that there are always at least 15 to 20 kids outside playing on the sidewalks. After 9 p.m., cars are racing down 99th Street off of Harlem Avenue all night.

Jaber says she’s called 911 once or twice to report it.

“After this, we want speed bumps,” Jaber said. “The residents will get together and sign a petition.”

As of Tuesday evening, the building still had not been boarded up. The door was tied shut with a rope. Anyone could through the open glass door.

Chicago Ridge police did not return calls seeking comment.