Local News in Brief : Driver Thrown Through Wall of House in Burbank, Killed

A Reseda man died Saturday after his car struck a raised lane divider and he was catapulted through the kitchen wall of a house, Burbank police said.

Gary Perges, 34, was driving east on Vanowen Street at a high speed about 5 p.m. as he approached Buena Vista Street, said Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Kight.

Police found 18 unopened beer cans and one open can in the car, which came to rest upside down on a sidewalk in the 1800 block of Buena Vista, Kight said.

Witnesses told police that Perges’ car became airborne after hitting two raised lane dividers, Kight said. Perges was thrown through the windshield and created a six-foot-square hole in the kitchen wall 60 feet away, Kight said. Then he smashed into a refrigerator that was backed against the wall, and bounced back into the front yard, Kight added.

A passenger, Christopher Chanina, 34, of Pacoima, escaped with cuts and bruises and was released Sunday from Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Chanina told police that he was a hitchhiker who “only wanted a ride” and that he and Perges purchased the beer and drank while Perges drove on surface streets at up to 90 m.p.h., Kight said. Perges was driving about 70 m.p.h. when he crashed, the police report quotes Chanina as saying.

Police said the owner of the house was in the backyard during the crash.

“He heard a bang and observed his house shake. Then he saw a passenger crawl out of the car,” Kight said.

Kight said the house, which faces oncoming traffic on Vanowen Street, has been the scene of numerous auto crashes because that stretch of Vanowen is frequently used as a speedway. The owner could not be contacted Sunday.

“They come flying down Vanowen,” Kight said. “That house has been hit 10 or 15 times.”