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Tuesday's crash startled nearly everyone in the quiet Northeast Fresno neighborhood.
Kurt Leonard said, "It sounded like a thundercloud right outside my window, and I heard the boom and I walked outside."
Kurt Leonard watched as the 15-year-old driver, and his friend climbed out of wreckage with only cuts and bruises.
The teen tells Action News he took his mom's car without permission, and lost control, while driving an estimated 60 miles an hour.
/*Grisha Muradyan*/ said, "I hit the brakes, but it didn't work so well because it was raining, and just skidded out of control. And I tried to turn the wheel so I wouldn't hit it, but it didn't turn in time, you know?"
After jumping a sidewalk, the van first veered into the living room of this house, where a mother and her five-year-old daughter had been standing just moments earlier. The car then took out a wood fence and iron gate, before slamming into a neighbor's garage.
Carolyn Nixon said, "Surprisingly, I'm somewhat calm. But, it's like I don't think it has really sunk in as to what magnitude has happened here."
Fresno Fire and Police both responded to the call. PG&E officials were also there, because the impact caused a small gas leak.
As for the driver, he was cited for not having a license. And while he was apologetic.
"I'm sorry, you know," said Grisha Muradyan. "I'm just thanking god I didn't hurt anybody."
Officials say there's an important lesson to be learned.
"It's recommended children don't have access to the parent's keys," said Battalion Chief Casey Clark. "It was very fortunate that there wasn't a worse outcome from this."
