ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A St. Louis County man says he's lucky to be alive after a serious crash in St. John.
Paul Rainey told 5 On Your Side he went to visit his friends over the weekend but said the quick trip turned into a scary one.
Moments after arriving at his friend's place, Rainey said a car fleeing and speeding from police smashed into a stop sign at the intersection of Brown Road and North Avenue, went airborne and crashed into his Ford F-150 truck, which was parked in his friend's driveway.
“We were standing here in the driveway. My truck was parked right here. We were standing in the front of the truck and we heard a tire screech coming for over the hill on Brown Road," Rainey said. “He came at the intersection at 100 miles per hour.”
He told 5 On Your Side the car barely missed him and his friend.
“With the amount of obstacles that were in-between us and the car initially we kind of didn't move. We kind of thought he was going to hit something and we noticed he just so happened to miss everything and that’s when we decided it was probably time to get out of the way.” Rainey said. "We ran up the driveway out of harm's way because we were actually leaning up against the front of the truck when it happened."
Rainey immediately took out his phone and started recording after the crash. His video shows the extensive damage to his car moments after the incident.
“I started taking pictures and the guy was still in the car and the police weren't even here yet so I didn't know if the guy was going to get up and run. I started taking some video." Rainey said. “He hit so hard that the driver's side’s door is in the passenger’s seat. I mean it’s done.”
Rainey said moments after the crash St. John police were able to pull the suspect from the vehicle and arrested him.
"They had to smash the rear glass out of the car and had to pull him out. He was laying in the back seat afterwards. He was not buckled in. The airbag probably saved his life.” Rainey said.
He said he's shocked no one got badly hurt from the forceful impact of the crash.
“It very well could’ve been three fatalities. We’re very fortunate that there wasn't anything else that happened besides from the truck that got hit." Rainey said. “I couldn't believe how hard he hit it and the fact that the car flipped over and the fact that the guy was still alive afterwards because it was quite a hit. If anybody would’ve been in that truck, they wouldn't have made it.”
5 on your side reached out to St. John Police Department to get more details on the suspect and the crash. We're still waiting to get information from officials.
