A man says his brother is lucky to be alive after an Audi being chased by police crashed into the side of their house before landing upside down in their garden.
Eyewitnesses said the car careened off the road, ploughing into a tree. After the impact with the tree, the vehicle catapulted through the air, crashing into the gable wall of the property where 22-year-old Thomas Ashley lives with his two siblings, his mum, and stepdad.
Mr Ashley narrowly escaped the crash when he got up for a drink but his 19-year-old brother was hit by the car and initially pinned under it after it came to rest upside down.
Thomas told Manchester Evening News: “Where the car’s landed, I was sat there about 30 seconds beforehand with my brother on the bench on the other side.
“I have come in to make a drink. As I got to the kitchen on the other side of the house, I heard a bang, came running out, and saw the car was upside down in the garden.”
He managed to free himself within seconds and reach safety.
Both individuals were taken to the hospital, but thankfully, they sustained only minor injuries.
The driver of the Audi, who had been arrested, was also transported to the hospital with minor injuries. Authorities have described his injuries as non-life-threatening.
Mr Ashley and his family have been advised against sleeping in their home until potential structural damage can be thoroughly assessed.
“We’re obviously a bit shaken up as you just don’t expect that to happen,” Mr Ashley said.
“But we’ve lived here five years, and the way people fly down this road, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before.”
He added: “It could have been a lot worse. About 30 seconds before I was literally sat where the car landed. So it would have just taken me out.
“My brother was lucky as he was on the end of the bench at the backside of the car. But seconds before he was sat on the other side. So we’re both lucky.
“More him than me. The car must have been going at some speed as it came through the tree, and it wasn’t a small tree, it was a big chunky one. It could easily have killed us. I’m glad just glad my brother’s sound.”
Brenda Richards, a 73-year-old resident living nearby, said she couldn’t believe how quickly the emergency services arrived.
She said: “I was in my living room, and I heard a massive bang. At first, I genuinely thought the house next to me had exploded it was that loud. I came out the tree had come down and was right outside my garden gate. I had to step over it to get out.
“The man who lives there who got hit was very lucky.”
A Greater Manchester Police (GMP) spokesman said: “A 27-year-old man has been arrested after a car collided with a house in Tameside.
“A GMP patrol spotted the driver of a silver Audi on Kings Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, acting suspiciously at about 10:20pm last night (25/8/23) and started a pursuit – the Audi crashed into a property on Union Road a short time later.
“The driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of failing to stop and required hospital treatment for minor injuries. He has since been bailed.”
