Car Drives Into Assisted Living Center Sunday Night

Mentor firefighters received a call that smoke was rising from the back of Haven Home, an assisted living facility on Rockingham Road, at about 9 p.m.

At first, witnesses thought it was fire. It turned out to be be smoke from the tires of a car that had driven into the building and then drove away, Lt. Eric Gartner said.

The people inside of the one-story house -- about a dozens residents and the employees -- said they heard an explosion before the saw the smoke, Gartner said.

The explosion was the sound of a car driving through a fence, hitting a dumpster and pushing the dumpster into one of the building's units.

The room the car crashed into was occupied at the time and the woman inside was almost hit, Gartner said.

Firefighters rescued her from the room. Though she had no major injuries, she was taken to the hospital as a safety precaution, Gartner said.

The other residents were evacuated and taken to other assisted living facilities or picked up by family members because the house was not habitable Sunday night.

The driver of the car drove away after the crash. The News-Herald is reporting that she was arrested soon thereafter, though her name has not been released as of yet.

Several other local fire departments helped evacuate and transport the residents, including Kirtland, Willoughby, Painesville Township, Painesville City, Fairport Harbor, Concord and Willowick.