NEW JERSEY — A camera captured the moment a landscaping truck traveling down a coastal New Jersey street suddenly swerved, hitting a house on Route 35 North in Point Pleasant Beach.
“I was in my living room here and heard a huge explosion that shook the house,” said neighbor Carol Kasyan.
Kasyan heard a second explosion when the truck crashed into the house on Wednesday, causing extensive damage.
Chris Cochran owns the house and had just left moments earlier with his family for a late lunch.
Cleanup crews were cleaning on Thursday, but Cochran’s memory of the aftermath of that crash still gives him chills because the impact zone is the same one where his 15-month-old son plays. The family cat had to be rescued by a firefighter from the rubble, hiding under a couch.
Police say the driver of this truck is a 55-year-old man from Point Pleasant, but could not say how he lost control of his truck.
The video Daniela Broit captured was taken by a device while she was with her grandmother in her car.
Meanwhile, a city official tells our sister network NBC 4 New York that the damage is severe enough that there is no quick fix, which means Cochran and his family will be living with his mother and his father for weeks or even months.