Car into South Bend home kills woman

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A woman has been arrested on a preliminary drunken driving charge after her car plowed into a house in South Bend early Friday, killing a 56-year-old woman who was sleeping inside, authorities said.

Erica McCaffery, 23, was being held in the St. Joseph County jail Friday, the prosecutor's office said. Police said she was from Wisconsin, but jail authorities declined to release her hometown. A jail officer did not know if she had an attorney.

The impact of the crash around 1:30 a.m. destroyed about half of the one-story wood-frame house a few blocks from the University of Notre Dame campus. The car came to rest inside the home.

The driver lost control of the car and veered into the house as she attempted a turn at high speed, Police Capt. Phil Trent said. Another car was also speeding but it wasn't clear if the two were racing each other or if they were involved in a chase, he said.

The woman inside the house, who had been asleep on the couch, was probably killed instantly, Trent said. Police did not release her identity.

A man and woman inside the car were taken to the hospital, but Trent said he didn't know the extent of their injuries. The woman, whom prosecutors identified as McCaffery, was arrested later on a preliminary drunken driving charge, Trent said.

Trent said police are seeking the driver of the other car.

Police Sgt. William Kraus told WNDU-TV that after firefighters found the woman dead they had to leave the house because it was so unstable.

"I don't know if the house is even going to be viable to be occupied again or if it is going to have to be razed," Trent said.