Driver Crashes Through Falls Township Home

FALLS TOWNSHIP, PA — A 48-year-old township woman is in custody after police say her car sped through an intersection and crashed into a home on Sunday morning, narrowly missing two children inside.

Stephanie Coen, 48, was charged with DUI, reckless endangerment, operating a vehicle not equipped with an ignition interlock, reckless driving, and a stop sign violation, the Falls Township Police Department said.

Police said the house was uninhabitable. The children, ages 3 and 6, were unharmed, along with two adults inside.

Police responded to a report of a vehicle striking a home on the unit block of Thornridge Drive in the Levittown section of the township at 9:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to a criminal complaint.

A blue Volkswagen Tiguan was traveling down Tamarack Lane at a high rate of speed, police said. The vehicle failed to slow down at the Thornridge Drive intersection, crossed the front lawn, and slammed through the front of the single-story residence.

The Volkswagen came to a stop inside the home against the dining room table, authorities said.

Police said that Coen, who lives nearby, had glassy eyes and could not remember all the details of the crash. She told police she lost control after dodging something in the roadway.

According to police, Coen’s driver’s license required her to operate a vehicle equipped with an alcohol interlock device due to a prior DUI conviction in New Jersey.

Officers did not find an interlock device in the Volkswagen, police said.

Coen claimed New Jersey authorities allowed her to remove it early but did not present documentation to prove the claim, police said.

Coen reportedly told officers she had not taken any drugs or alcohol beyond coffee, Adderall, and a nighttime sleeping pill. Additionally, she stated she did not believe a sobriety test was needed, the criminal complaint stated.

An officer wrote in the affidavit that Coen was “hyperfixated” on going to work and offered to back her damaged vehicle out of the residence so she could leave.

(Falls Township Police Department)