Mark Branham
Paint Creek Fire/EMS, the Highland County Sheriff, Greenfield Police, and the Ohio State Patrol responded to a vehicle crash on Childs St in Greenfield Monday morning.
Witnesses on scene report that they had been watching a tan colored 1999 Ford Explorer drive around the neighborhood for about an hour prior to the crash at a high rate of speed.
At just before 10am they say that the Ford Explorer was traveling west on Blaine St. The vehicle crossed Foraker St., striking and demolishing a split rail fence. It continued across back yards, striking two pine trees. After glancing off the second tree it ran completely through a small outbuilding used as a child’s playhouse, slammed into the side of a house at 1021 Childs St., and then slammed into a parked 1997 Lincoln Continental that was parked at the residence. The Lincoln was pushed approximately 30 feet down the driveway into the middle of Childs St. where both vehicles came to rest.
Joe King, who lives on Foraker St, was visibly shaken when talking about what had just happened.
“I saw him about a half an hour before [the crash] flying around the corner. He was flying! He took out my fence and just missed my car by a few inches!”
Zach Pryor was across the street at his towing business and heard the crash. He says that he could hear the engine racing as he ran towards the crash. As he arrived at the scene he states that he busted out a back window and pulled the driver from the Explorer.
“He was limp. I thought sure he was dead. I just laid him in the ground. I thought for sure he was dead,” Pryor stated.
Heather Russel, a resident at the Childs St. address, said, “I was sitting at my kitchen table when I heard him hit the house. The whole house shook!”
Heavy damage was sustained by both vehicles. There was also damage to the residence at 1021 Childs St and to the child’s playhouse in the back.
An unidentified bystander on scene made the comment that if school had not been in session, that the children could have very well been playing in the playhouse at the time of the accident.
The driver of the vehicle was identified on scene by witnesses as Josh Patterson. He was taken by ambulance to the Greenfield Area Medical Center for evaluation. EMS personnel on scene described his injuries as minor.
The Highland County Sheriff’s office is conducting the investigation and according to deputies at the crash, it appears that drugs were involved. More information will be released as the investigation continues.