SUV plows into apartment at Super 8 hotel on northeast side

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Jasmin Hochstetler was sitting on a couch Monday night in her apartment when an Cadillac Escalade came through the wall.

Indianapolis Fire Department was called to the structure collapse about 6:25 p.m. Monday at the Super 8 by Wyndham Indianapolis/NE/Castleton Area hotel, 7202 E. 82nd St. That’s just off I-69 on the northeast side of the city.

Rita Reith, spokeswoman for the fire department, says Hochstetler was covered in dust and material but unhurt. Hochstetler told investigators that four young men in the SUV panicked and briefly disappeared, but returned minutes later.

Reith says the crash was believed to have been “an unfortunate accident.” Witnesses told firefighters that the car was pulling in to park, and the driver appeared to hit the gas instead of the brake. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department was investigating.

Reith wrote in a news release, “Jasmin has lived in the apartment for 4 years along with a male friend who was not home at the time. The have a Great Dane named Indy that was brought out of the structure by firefighters. Indy was unharmed.”

She also says, on the second floor, a teen and two kids were unable to get down due to the stairs damaged. Firefighters used a ladder to bring them to the ground.

Damage to the building was mostly cosmetic, Reith says, and Super 8 managers plan to with work with insurance to get it fixed.

Photos from Indianapolis Fire Department