Three injured when teen crashes car into an Amherst Township home

AMHERST TWP. — Three people were injured after a teenage driver lost control and drove into a house Wednesday evening. The State Highway Patrol and Amherst Fire Department responded to a car crashing into a house near the intersection of Middle Ridge and Oberlin roads about 8:30 p.m. The 16-year-old boy driving a Ford Mustang was attempting to turn west onto Middle Ridge Road from Oberlin Road when he failed to complete the turn, hitting a decorative rock, then going diagonally across the road, over the curb and into the single-story home, according to the Highway Patrol. Both the driver and the passenger, another 16-year-old boy, were seriously injured in the crash. A man who was lying in bed in the home was injured and all three were taken to Mercy Health Lorain. The car came to rest on its side inside the home, exposing a hallway area and part of the kitchen. A neighbor said the passenger of the Mustang was lying in the grass of the front yard when first responders arrived. That neighbor has lived across the street from the damaged home for more than 20 years and said it's the third time he's seen someone hit the home, and it is far from the first crash in the intersection itself. While the teen missed hitting a large tree growing in the front yard, the neighbor pointed to the side of it missing bark and noted the damage was from a previous crash. In 2011, 70-year-old James Lacourse, of Lorain, was killed when his car was struck by a flatbed wrecker near the intersection. In 2009, George Thompson, 60, of Amherst, was killed when a woman lost control at the intersection and hit his vehicle head-on, according to previous reporting. The conditions of the man who was in the home at the time and the teens were not immediately known. The teens were conscious when transported. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.