Minivan Crashes Into Apartment Building

A 52-year-old man was taken to Bayfront Medical Center after St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue said he lost consciousness while driving a Chrysler Town and Country minivan and crashed into the Calais Apartments Wednesday morning. 

The crash, authorities said, happened at 5743 Calais Lane N.

When arriving to the scene, firefighters saw the minivan had crashed through a 6-foot concrete black wall.

According to Lt. Joel Granata, "The van was wedged between the wall and the apartment building making access difficult to rescue the driver. Incident Commander Fire Lt. George Wade called for extrication upgrade and
proceeded to cut and peel back the roof off the van."

Once the roof was off, the driver was treated at the scene and taken to Bayfront.  

The driver, a news release said, suffered a medical emergency prior to losing consciousness. 

Authorities say two apartment units suffered severe damage. There was a person in the upstairs apartment at the time of the crash but was not hurt. 

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