CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Police say a tractor trailer crashed through a Cape Coral neighborhood Sunday, ripping down power lines and causing roughly $400,000 worth of damage.
It left homes damaged, fences ripped apart, electric poles snapped in half and cars dragged across yards.
Residents tell Fox 4 community corespondent Stephen Pimpo about the damage done by the hit-and-run truck driver:
“The sound was like my roof was ripping off the house,” said Mario Aguilera, describing the sound of powerlines scraping across his family’s home in Cape Coral.
“The top of the house was ripped all the concrete is broken, all the cables around, the roof was messed up, some shingles,” Aguilera said. I’m just glad my family is Ok.”
Cape Coral Police say the hit-and-run happened Sunday morning and knocked power poles over and even dragged parked cars across yards.
It happened close to the intersection of Tropicana Parkway and NE 5th Avenue around 8:20 a.m. on May 18. Police say they responded to the area after witnesses reported hearing a loud collision followed by a power outage in the area.
“This obviously led to power outages. A lot of the power poles were snapped in the area because the line was dragged by that vehicle,” said Lisa Greenberg with Cape Coral Police.
The crash resulted in six downed power poles and power lines affecting multiple blocks. Several parked vehicles were dragged across yards, and numerous fences were damaged.
“The poles literally slammed into their homes and you can see the damage,” said Rob Helphenstine, who lives near the intersection.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
“With the magnitude of the strength that cable came out, that could have just ripped someone apart,” Aguilera said.
Preliminary investigation indicates a large commercial semi-truck struck a utility line and continued traveling westbound on Tropicana Parkway, dragging the lines behind it. The damage extended across multiple homes and vehicles.
The suspect vehicle is described as an 18-wheeler semi-truck with a yellow cab and a white refrigerated trailer. A portion of the trailer's roof was torn off and recovered on Tropicana Parkway, just west of the initial crash site.
The vehicle was last seen traveling northbound on Burnt Store Road.
Anyone with information about this incident or the suspect vehicle is urged to contact the Cape Coral Police Department at (239) 574-3223 and reference case number 25-009645.
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