DRIVER

‘Total Panic': Girl Injured After Car Plows Through Her Bedroom

The family says this is the third time this year a car has crashed into their Redlands home.

A girl was hospitalized with broken bones after a driver plowed her vehicle into a Redlands home while the 10-year-old was sleeping in her bedroom Thursday morning.

The crash happened just before 7 a.m. in the 1600 block of Occidental Street, according to the Redlands Police Department.

A 1997 Mercury Mountaineer was traveling westbound on San Bernardino Avenue when the driver lost control and crashed into the home, plowing through a bathroom and two bedrooms. 

The SUV crashed through the back wall of the home, and continued through the backyard, through a fence, and then over a 6-foot-tall retaining wall before it finally crashed into the master bedroom of another home in the 1600 block of Nathan Court, police said.

The girl was sleeping in her bedroom when the SUV plowed into her bedroom.

"Total panic," said the girl's mother, Monique Alonzo. "I didn't know where she was."

Alonzo noticed her daughter, Julissa Strickland, had been ejected into the backyard. 

"When I turned her over, brought her on top of me, I knew she was still with us," Alonzo said. "I scrambled to get her oxygen."

When Julissa was 5, she was diagnosed with brain cancer. Her surgeries left her without the ability to talk or breathe on her own.

She was hospitalized Thursday with a broken leg and arm. Julissa is expected to make a full recovery from the crash.

"My life is turned upside down," her mother said. "My child's life. She's in the hospital."

There were no other major injuries from the crash. Police identified the driver as a 20-year-old woman from Redlands. Her name has not been released.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. No charges have been filed at this time.

The family says this is the third time this year a car has crashed into their home. Their home has been red-tagged and they have been provided shelter, police said.

"Just slow down," her mother said. "You can take people's lives."

If you would like to donate to a GoFundMe account set up to help Julissa's family, you may do so here. Note that GoFundMe deducts 7.9 percent of all funds raised in the form of platform and payment processing charges.

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