Firefighters Free Man Trapped Under Car In His Own Apartment

A Winchester Avenue tenant had a classic nightmare early Friday: that a car burst into his room and landed on top of him.

Only it wasn’t a dream. It was true.

The episode occurred around 2:30 a.m. Friday. A 27-year-old woman driving eastbound on Webster approaching Winchester lost control of her car. It flew in the air and crashed into 91 Winchester Ave., a building at the corner of Compton Street. (She later told police her brakes failed.)

The car landed on top of a man sleeping on a couch, according to authorities. It pinned him there.

Firefighters arrived. It took them 45 minutes to extract him.

“The couch probably supported the car from completely crushing him,” said Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli. ​“They used air bags and some lifting equipment to get the car off of him and the couch.”

The man was able to walk away. But he was taken to the hospital for treatment of leg injuries. The driver and a passenger were taken to the hospital, too. All three people’s injuries were minor, Marcarelli said.

The scene had an element of deja vu: In the early-morning hours of Jan. 31, 2012, an SUV driver fleeing from police crashed into the same house, his vehicle landing on a different sleeping tenant, who suffered more serious injuries. (Read about that incident here.)

“It’s ironic that it happened today,” said Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison, because just Thursday she had met with city transit chief Doug Hausladen to discuss erecting a barrier at that corner. ​“I’ve been pushing for it for a long time,” she said.

Hausladen said Friday that the city had ordered a $3,000 guard rail to erect by that house at the corner. The city obtained the quote in November. ​“It was too late in the season to do anything with it” then, he said. The city plans to install the guard rail in the spring.

WTNH interviewed the building’s landlord, Bulent Ozalp, at the scene Friday morning. He appealed for city help to stop cars from crashing into his house and pinning tenants. Click here to read and watch that story.

Police spokesman Officer David Hartman said the department is investigating the crash.