85-year-old driver OK after report of car nearly hitting duplex

An 85-year-old driver appeared to be uninjured after running a white Chevrolet Cavalier off the road, narrowly missing a duplex in the 1000 block of South 74th Street.

Betty Scherrer, a resident of the duplex, said she was home at the time of the accident.

“I was sitting at the computer and I heard this crash, so I go look out the window and I didn’t see anything. But then I saw people coming out of the health club. Then I came out the door, and I saw that he was down here,” Scherrer said, adding that she recognized the man driving the car. “It could have been a lot worse. He was the only one in the car. Thank God his wife wasn’t with him.”

The driver identified himself as Dewey Dunn. Dunn was seen walking around after the incident.

Dunn’s vehicle came to a stop at a fence behind the residence. Several bushes and an air conditioner were run over alongside the duplex.

Signal Hill Fire Chief Greg Render arrived on scene along with officers from the Belleville Police Department and St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. Abbott EMS assisted the driver.

“We were dispatched for a report of a car into a house on 1000 S. 74th St. When our units got here, we found his car next to the house,” Render said. “He seemed a little confused; he needed a little help getting out, so we cut some bushes down to get him out of the way and get EMS in to check him out.”

No other injuries were reported as a result of the incident. Authorities on scene said it was unclear how the accident occurred.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 4:23 PM with the headline "85-year-old driver OK after report of car nearly hitting duplex."