Bonnie Sweeney had just gotten into bed Sunday night when she heard a loud noise.
“I heard this explosion,” she said.
It wasn’t an explosion, but a multivehicle accident that took place around 12:30 a.m. Aug. 30 on the 1900 block of 75th Avenue. Sweeney’s home is on the northeast corner of that block, at the intersection of 75th Avenue and Cortland Street.
Elmwood Park police say the accident involved four cars, two of which were parked on 1900 block of 75th Avenue.
“Everybody in Elmwood Park was here,” Sweeney said. “There was a big crowd. The firemen did a good job cleaning it up.”
Jose A. Gonzalez Jr., 24, of the 3700 block of Dickens Avenue, Chicago, was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol, operating a car without insurance, disregarding a stop sign and failure to reduce speed at around 2 a.m. Aug. 30 on 1900 block of 75th Avenue.
According to Deputy Police Chief Andrew Hock, Gonzalez was driving north on 75th Avenue when he hit a car traveling eastbound on Cortland.
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As a result of that collision, one of the cars hit the rear of a parked car, causing a domino effect that pushed that parked car into the rear of another parked car, Hock said. Along with causing damage to the parked cars, the car ran over shrubbery on the corner and damaged the lawn of a home, Hock said.
The damaged lawn is in front of Sweeney’s home. Tire-sized dirt strips could be seen where grass used to be.
But she’s not too concerned about her lawn.
“It was terrifying but luckily they didn’t get hurt too bad,” she said.
Police said Gonzalez and the other driver were both taken to the hospital and later released. Gonzalez is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 25.
Twitter: @DavidDPollard