OKLAHOMA CITY — A teenage driver doing donuts in a church parking lot loses control of his truck and crashes into the pastor’s house next door.
It happened Tuesday afternoon on the 1100 block of S.W. 57th St.
The pastor of Bible Methodist Church lives in a house next door to the church but luckily, he and his family were not home at the time of the accident.
A neighbor across the street watched the whole thing happen.
“They got in the truck and started doing donuts and then they came out of the driveway and I guess they lost control with the truck and when they did, they jumped the curb and it went straight into the house,” Ola Richardson said.
There were three teenage boys and a 6-month-old baby inside the truck.
“One of the boys that was still in the car handed the baby to one of the other juveniles that was on the outside and they took off running,” Richardson said.
“Officers were able to establish a perimeter and quickly take all of the subjects into custody,” OKC Police Lt. Jay Barnett said.
Pastor Darrell Stetler, his wife, Liz and their four young children were on their way back into town from vacation when the accident happened.
“Thank God that we’re all OK because were supposed to be home. We should’ve been home by that time,” Stetler said.
Pastor Stetler said he knows the boys who were in the truck that destroyed his home.
He said they live in the neighborhood and he frequently plays basketball with them in the church parking lot.
“We stopped on the way in to see the family and pray with them. We want them to know we don’t hold any bad feelings toward them. We want the best for them,” Stetler said.
When the truck stopped, it was completely inside the pastor’s front living room.
Much of the room is destroyed but the wall containing family photos and the family’s vision statement was untouched.
“Everything around it’s destroyed, but it held together. And so I’m very thankful. It’s kind of a picture of what happened and I’m very grateful for God’s protection,” Stetler said.
Police say the 16-year-old driver of the truck did not have a license.
He is facing a charge of reckless driving.
The teenage boys and the baby were all unharmed.
