Imagine Faye and Johnny Glascocks' surprise, last weekend, when they returned home to Chantilly after a brief vacation — to discover someone had crashed into their house.
"It happened early on the Fourth [of July], around 2:30 a.m., from what the neighbors told us," said Faye Glascock. "We have no idea who the driver was or why this happened."
She and her husband have lived in this area nearly 25 years and are in the small, Fair Oaks Estates neighborhood, on Melville Lane, behind the Greenbriar community. Their custom-built home is on two acres on a cul-de-sac.
THEY'D LEFT July 2 for their place on the Potomac and returned Sunday, July 8, to discover their home had had a bang-up Fourth — literally. "It was a hit-and-run," said Glascock.
Their house is around a slight curve, and the couple believes someone was driving too fast and lost control. "The police think it was a red car — a Toyota — because he left some paint on the wall and a couple things broke off the car," said Glascock. "As hard as [the driver] hit the house, I'm surprised they were able to drive the vehicle away. We live in a brick house."
Besides smacking into their home, she said, "They flattened the Cox Cable box in between our house and the neighbor's house. Then they hit my hydrangea bush, cut caddy-corner across the driveway, clipped our spruce tree, crossed our sidewalk and ran into the house sideways."
Glascock said the errant vehicle hit the front of the house on the right-hand side, by the porch, and under the window. Evidently, she said, the driver was able to back up and go out another way through their front yard, dragging their boxwood bushes along for the ride.
"Our neighbors called and told us about it," she said. "And one neighbor called Cox because they couldn't get any TV reception on the Fourth of July, so Cox came out and discovered what had happened."
AS THE COUPLE arrived home Sunday, before noon, "I first noticed the hydrangea bush was flattened," said Glascock. "It had bluish/purple flowers and had been about 5 feet tall. And then I saw the marks across the yard. He'd skidded across the lawn, apparently trying to stop as he went over the little incline to our yard. I guess the brick wall saved us."
Luckily, she said, the driver avoided striking their big oak tree, or the outcome could have been tragic. It was also fortunate that the vehicle didn't slam into the house head-on. Said Glascock: "Our porch has two columns, and he just missed hitting it by two feet."
She and her husband don't know if they'll ever find out what caused the crash or who was driving. "We're thinking he probably left because he knew he'd be in trouble if he stayed," she said. "It shows that anything can happen."
Calling the whole incident "really scary," Glascock said she's "just thankful it wasn't any worse than it was, because it could have been a lot worse." And she's happy that no one was in the yard at the time.
"We're usually out there quite a bit doing yard work," she said. "At least no one was injured, although I imagine the driver was banged up."
Glascock's also hoping that anyone who saw or heard the crash, last week, will come forward with information. If so, they're asked to contact police at the Fair Oaks District Station, 703-591-0966.