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Family Homeless After Car Hits Tampa Apartment

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2007

TAMPA - Cherene Clarke and her fiance, Tommy Hill Jr., had just gone to bed shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday after watching a movie.

Then the walls of her East Tampa apartment came crashing in -- literally.

"We were sleeping, and cinder blocks began falling on us," she said.

The couple awoke to find a car's grille jutting a few feet from where they slept.

"There was a car in our living room," she said.

The driver climbed over the seat and out through the back seat before running off, she said.

Clarke, 31, and her eight children were not hurt. Hill, 25, suffered a head injury after a block fell on him, she said.

About 7 a.m., a deputy tried to stop a 1995 Mazda at 50th Street and Hillsborough Avenue for not having headlights on, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.

The car took off. The car was not stolen, so the deputy did not pursue, Carter said.

About half an hour after an alert was put out for the car, Tampa police reported it had rammed the apartment, she said.

Deputies were still looking for the driver.

"We believe we know who the driver is," Carter said.

After the car was pulled out and impounded, the duplex was deemed unlivable, Clarke said.

Now Clarke is trying to find a place for her family to stay. The American Red Cross gave her a voucher for one night at a hotel in "adjoining rooms." Beyond that, though, she doesn't know where they'll live.

The children, who range in age from 6 months to 13 years, were shuttled off to a grandparent's home to stay awhile, and Clarke and Hill sat with their belongings inside the ruptured duplex at 4505 E. Frierson Ave., making sure no one walked off with their stuff.

She's hoping to get a key to the adjoining duplex so she can at least store her things in a secure space.

Despite everything, Clarke considers herself lucky. Her 6-year-old had gotten up just before the crash and walked into the living room, wanting to nestle in with Hill and Clarke. She sent him back to his own bedroom, in the back of the house.

Moments later, the car crashed into the wall.

Reporter Jason Geary contributed to this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib .com.

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