Fatal car crash causes gas leak

An early morning crash killed one man and forced local homeowners to evacuate because of a gas leak.

A car crash in Brazil, Indiana awoke multiple neighbors early Thursday morning.
    
Charles and Shirley Lucas live four houses down from the crash and heard a loud crack.

"I thought I heard a noise and I got up, went to the front porch windows and I saw across the street; I saw flash lights,” said Mrs. Lucas.

A black Camaro driven by 22-year-old Robert Neville crashed into a 40-foot utility pole, took out a gas main and then crashed into the side of a house.

Mr. Lucas says “now we could smell the gas when we got outside, ya know they put the skunking agent or whatever in gas and we could tell. It was really strong."

Within 30 minutes, Clay County Chief Deputy Rob Gambill had officers clearing the area.

"We realized once the gas company arrived on scene they couldn't shut the gas service off at the meter due to the damage. They were going to have to dig up the ground which took about three hours to accomplish. The gas was filling up the neighborhood so we decided we would evacuate the neighborhood just for there safety,” said Gambill.

Chief Deputy Gambill says the Camaro was traveling at a high speed when the car hit the house launching Neville through the side of the home; killing him.

Gambill called the crash one of the worst he's ever seen.

"Damage of this type is typically what we see on an interstate when a vehicle gets hit by a semi. This was an incredible amount of damage to this vehicle for a single vehicle accident. We believe it was traveling at a high rate of speed,” said Gambill.

Mr. Lucas says he spoke with the owner of the home who was sound asleep when the car hit.

"I believe he said he was sleeping in the back of the house and the car hit the front of the house and the vehicle was still there when he left,” said Mr. Lucas.

Around 4:00 a.m. crews were able to shut off the gas and families returned home a little before 6 this morning.
    
The crash is still under investigation. Police don't know if alcohol was a factor but a toxicology report is pending.