SUV crashes through classroom

VINCENNES, IND (WTHI) - An SUV careened out of control through a southern Indiana college campus.

Police said two people were injured when the driver lost control of his vehicle that crashed and broke a utility pole and continued through the wall of a building, finally ending up in a classroom at Vincennes University.

The accident made a mess but could have been much worse.

"Man he smacked that building hard," said V.U. Professor Jason Fithian. "That hole is almost a perfect hole the size of that vehicle. He smacked it hard. He was in the building very quick. It was not a slow motion at all."

Police said the driver of vehicle, Damon Jones, 34, of Vincennes lost control after having a seizure.

He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, as was one student.

"One student who was in the classroom building when the vehicle came through," said Indiana
State Police Trooper Aaron Keucher, "and was hit by a table. Just bumped with it."

Officials said the accident happened at a time when there weren't many students on the sidewalks and also when the lobby was empty.

"We were just very, very lucky," said V.U. Dean of Technology Art Haase. "Had this been 5 minutes earlier, we would have had multiple deaths on this campus."

As it is, the crash did thousands of dollars of damage to the buildings and equipment inside, and shut down the campus for at least 4 hours while crews tried to put the pieces back together again.

Classes on campus were shutdown until noon.

Officials said they expect the Technology Building to be shut down into tomorrow.