WATCH: Family narrowly escapes as truck plows into Lebanon home

‘I honestly thought it was a tornado’
Published: Feb. 8, 2023 at 9:52 PM EST
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WARREN COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - Astonishing video shows a driver plow his car into a Lebanon home while the family was inside.

They say it was a terrifying experience, and they’re grateful they survived.

It happened at a house on Meadow Lane on Monday.

Joseph and Christina Riddick were home with their son, Austin, when Joseph says he heard loud noises outside. Doorbell camera footage shows him dart away just in time as a red truck crashes into the front of the house.

“I’m still in shock,” he said Wednesday.

Joseph’s biggest concern was for Austin, who was asleep on the couch on the other side of the wall.

Austin recalls being jolted awake amid the frenzy. He says he tried to run for the bathroom to seek shelter. “I honestly thought it was a tornado or something,” he said.

That’s where he met up with Christina.

“I was in shock,” she said. “I kept saying, ‘You were sleeping on the couch, you were sleeping on the couch.’”

Christina says it was disorienting trying to escape the smoke-filled room. All the while, the vehicle’s accelerator pedal was still down, leading to thicker fumes that further clouded their vision.

Christina says her first concern was getting her son out, which he was able to do through a nearby bedroom window. Christina herself was able to get to the backdoor.

Joseph says even outside the home with them, he didn’t feel like his family was safe. The driver was still behind the wheel, and the car was still running.

“We were trying to get him out, throwing rocks at his window,” Joseph said.

Lebanon police identify that driver as 65-year-old Robert Hall, of Waynesville. He was able to get out of the truck, and an officer arrived soon afterward to find him on the ground.

In body camera video, the officer asks Hall if he’s okay and Hall replies “I’m... I’m drunk.

The family escaped unharmed. Now they’re trying to process what happened as their house sits boarded up from the elements.

“I’m just glad we’re all ok,” Joseph said.

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