Abbott and Sandra Henderson spent Monday cleaning up what was left of the home they built over the last 30 years after a stolen car crashed into their living room and caught fire.
The crash happened just before 3 a.m. at the couple’s home on 14th Avenue South in St. Petersburg.
“I woke up in the middle of the night, and it’s like a bomb dropped,” Abbott said.
By daylight, the damage was impossible to miss. Part of the home’s front wall was gone, the living room was exposed to the outside and debris covered the yard.
Police say a stolen Honda Accord barreled through the neighborhood, struck a tree in the Hendersons’ yard and slammed into the house.
Abbott said the impact and fire jolted him awake.
“Got up, got the wife up and said we gotta get the hell out of here, the house is on fire too,” he said.
Sandra said she woke up to her husband urgently calling her name.
“He was yelling, calling me, ‘San, San, get up, get up,'” she said. “I panicked. I was like this ain’t happening, this ain’t happening, no way,” she said.
As flames spread, the couple rushed to escape. Abbott said they couldn’t get through their locked back gate because the keys were still inside the house.
“I had to kick the gate in to get out,” he said.
The couple made it out safely, but the damage left them without a place to stay.
“Now, we’re gonna be homeless until we get this fixed. My car is damaged, totaled,” Sandra said.
The stolen Honda had been taken overnight from 9th Avenue South near 21st Street South, according to police.
Surveillance cameras in the neighborhood captured a person limping away from the crash scene. St. Petersburg police are searching for the suspect, who appears in the video wearing a white shirt, shorts and a belt.
As investigators work to identify the driver, the Hendersons are trying to figure out what comes next.
“Where are we gonna go, what are we gonna do? It’s horrible,” Sandra said.
Despite the uncertainty, the couple said neighbors have stepped up to help.
“They been a blessing, helping, giving us water,” Sandra said.
“I’m gonna clean everything up, I’m gonna board it up and I’m gonna go from there,” Abbott added.
While the home they built over three decades was torn apart in an instant, the Hendersons said the support from the community around them has given them hope as they begin rebuilding.
“Now, I gotta start over,” Sandra said.
St. Petersburg police are asking anyone who recognizes the suspect or has additional surveillance or doorbell camera footage from the area to contact investigators.