Family in need of help after minivan crashes into Detroit home - Fox 2 News Headlines

By Maurielle Lue
Fox 2 News

DETROIT (WJBK) -- A motorist lost control of a minivan and drove right through the front door of a house on West Chicago in Detroit.  The family said police told them that driver was going 90 miles-per-hour.

Renita Alexander's grandfather was hit by the vehicle.  He was taken to the hospital.  Her 65-year-old grandmother, a stroke victim that is completely paralyzed, was also in the home.

Alexander saw the driver.

"I told him, 'Don't move, don't move,' and he saw me and he left out the passenger side and ran," she said.

"How are we going to live and how are we going to pay for this?... My parents are on a fixed income, and I'm unemployed right now... We moved the debris out... We moved carpets out because they were gas soaked and oil soaked... The window panes, furniture, flower vases, they were all destroyed."

This isn't the first time a car has terrorized this family.  Back in May, a car ripped through a fence and destroyed a handicap ramp that the family had built.  They spent $2,000 to get it fixed.

Alexander also said she's worried about her cat that has been missing since the accident.

"She's everything.  She's like a child to me," she told me.

Alexander got her master's degree to work as a social worker.  She said she was laid off, then repeatedly told she was overqualified for other jobs.  She has been taking care of her grandparents, and her struggle is breaking her father's heart.

"It's just hard to see my daughter like this," he said.  "I don't have (any) money to help her."

Alexadner said she's been placed on a waiting list for local service organizations.

The family needs help repairing the wheelchair ramp again and tarps to fix the hole.

"That's why we called Fox 2 to try to help us out.  Maybe the public can hear our cry for help," Alexander's father said.