Jeep Runs Into House; 2 Children Hurt

Heaven Thomas, 12, and Julius Thomas, 7, both of Coats, were in good condition at WakeMed in Raleigh on Friday, authorities said.

Teresa Hockaday, 32, was driving southbound on N.C. Highway 55 when the tire blew and sent the vehicle out of control, the Highway Patrol said. The Jeep ran off the road north of Coats, authorities said, and crashed into the corner of a house at 2405 Highway 55.

A fire started, and Coats was able to get the children out of the Jeep and get a woman who lived in the house. The two women  used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, troopers said.

Officials said Hockaday did nothing wrong in relation to the crash, but she was cited for not having insurance, having fictitious tags on the vehicle and because Heaven was not properly seat-belted.

The woman in the house was unhurt, but she had to stay elsewhere after Harnett County officials declared the house structurally unsound because it had been knocked off its foundation by 2 inches.