FERGUSON, Mo. – An attempted traffic stop ends with a suspect’s car slamming into an SUV, which flew into a home in Ferguson, interrupting a child’s birthday celebration.

FOX 2 crews were in north county for an unrelated story and saw it all unfold, including the moment the suspect was taken into custody.

Investigators tell FOX 2 that a Calverton Park police officer stopped the driver of a Cadillac along North Florissant Road. Police said the Cadillac attempted to take off when it slammed into the SUV, and upon impact, the SUV slammed right into the house. No one was home at the time.

First responders arrived within minutes of the crash to assist the officer behind the traffic stop. The suspect avoiding the traffic stop appeared to have blood on his face.

Lydia Hughes, the driver of the SUV, spoke to FOX 2 right after the encounter on what she recalled.

“I was coming down Florissant Road, driving to take my daughter some cupcakes for her birthday,” she said. “It was a car that police had flagged, and as I’m coming, I guess the car tried to escape from police, hurry up and bust a U-turn. As I’m coming down, he tried to bust a U-turn, and smacked dead into me, which made me go to the left. I tried to put on my brakes, and I couldn’t stop, and I ran into the house.”

Hughes says she’s lucky to be alive. “It just happened so fast. It didn’t register what happened,” she said.  

Another adult passenger in the SUV was taken to the hospital via ambulance with apparent minor injuries. Hughes also went to the hospital for precautionary reasons and said she had to carefully exit the vehicle.

“I had to climb through the passenger side of the car, hop over the bushes in case,” you know, ” she said. “The car was on fire.”

Police said the officer was in this area because of school zone patrols. The driver took off when the officer got out of the vehicle. Due to safety concerns involving other drivers and pedestrians, police did not consider a pursuit.

Crews have boarded up the front room of the home. It suffered enough damage to the point where the family later returned and was told they could not stay home.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified said she offered the crash victims help.  That neighbor feels fortunate that no one lost their life.

“It could have been me,” she said. “I could have been dead right now.”

The man’s name driving the Cadillac has not been released, and it’s unclear what charges he may face. He has not been charged as of Friday evening.