Car slams into home with 9 people inside

A car barreled into a St. Pete home Saturday morning jarring nine people, six of them children, from their sleep. Miraculously everyone walked away without a scratch.

St. Pete Police say 41-year-old Elaine Ribeiro crashed into a bedroom wall and knocked bricks, cinder blocks and debris into the room where a minister and his wife were sleeping.

“Miraculously the entire room is filled with debris. I’m talking two by two chunks of brick, concrete block and yet our bed was completely untouched,” said Community Bible Baptist Church minister John Stancil.

Despite the rude awakening and structural damage, the Stancils, their children and the woman behind the wheel of the car that smashed into their home were uninjured.

“We want to praise the lord for his protection and just remind people that every day you need to be ready because weird things happen. You think you don’t die in your sleep but apparently you can come pretty close,” said Stancil.

St. Pete Police say Ribeiro refused to take a field sobriety test after she jumped the curb and crashed into the home. She was arrested for Driving Under the Influence.

Stancil says he’s just relieved everyone, including Ribeiro, is OK.

“Our thoughts are toward her getting help before something really bad happens,” said Stancil. “This is brick and mortar. We can replace that. We can fix that. But if it had been a life, one of the kids playing in the neighborhood, one of us or her own life…you don’t come back from that.”