1 hurt after pickup crashes into Penn Township house

A 38-year-old man was hospitalized Wednesday afternoon when he apparently suffered a medical emergency and crashed into a Penn Township house.

Police Chief John Otto and Harrison City Assistant Fire Chief Tommy Lamacz said the crash happened around noon on Boxcartown Road. No one was home at the time.

The driver and a male passenger were talking while riding in a Dodge Ram pickup truck when the passenger looked over and realized something was wrong with the driver.

He grabbed the wheel and the truck careened off the street, through a mailbox and yard, slamming into the one-story home. Lamacz said the driver was on the ground when firefighters arrived. He was conscious and alert when he was taken to AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Lamacz said.

Investigators weren’t sure if his injuries were from the crash or the medical emergency, Otto said.

Township officials were evaluating the home at the intersection of Sarver and Campbell roads before the truck was towed away. A mailbox lay in the front yard, its post snapped in half and the truck appeared to have taken out a tree branch. There was a bedroom and walk-in closet inside the home where the truck crashed, Lamacz said.

There was significant damage to the modular-style home.

“It looks like everything has been pushed, twisted, shifted,” Otto said.

The passenger was not hurt. He stayed on scene and talked with police.