Vehicle crashes into home in Port Charlotte; driver injured

A vehicle struck a home in Port Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon.

The incident happened in the 2300 block of Broad Ranch Drive.

The home has extensive damage, said Todd Dunn, public information officer for Charlotte County Fire EMS.

Todd said the driver was extracted from the vehicle and flown to a hospital for treatment.

Charlotte County deputies said the driver, a middle age man, is at Gulf Coast Medical Center in critical condition.

First responders had to use the jaws of life to get him out of the minivan he was driving.

A vehicle crashed into a home on Broad Ranch Drive in Port Charlotte. (CREDIT: Charlotte County Public Safety)The home belong to Grant Bennett’s mother’s home.

“It’s very upsetting,” he said.

His mother died of cancer a few months ago, but her daughter planned to move in on Sunday.

Bennett said he ran to the scene after hearing the news and saw the car in the home.

He said this is going to change the neighbor’s plan.

“She’s going to stay at my house because this is inhabitable for at least two or three months probably,” Bennett said.

The collision did extensive damage to the home and Charlotte County Public Safety helped to shore up the home until it can be further inspected.

Bennett said he hopes the driver is OK.

“We’ll get through this. It’s a house. I’m hoping the guy is still alive. It is what it is,” he said. “We have to persevere and get through this, right? What else do you do, give up?”

Deputies said the driver suffered some sort of medical event but cannot be sure until they get a report from the hospital.

As for the house, it’s off-limits and has been deemed too dangerous to go inside.

“Thank God, thank God it wasn’t my house,” one neighbor said.