Truck slams into home in San Jose, prompts shelter-in-place

SAN JOSE (KGO) -- A truck that was reportedly stolen smashed into a San Jose home this morning and a dangerous situation immediately started unfolding for this entire South Bay neighborhood.

The crash broke a gas meter, prompting a shelter in place for everyone living close by. The pickup has been towed away. Now all that's left is that giant hole in the side of the house. And thankfully for the neighborhood the danger from the gas leak has passed.

You would think a pickup truck slamming into the side of a home was the most dangerous thing to happen this morning on Rowley Drive at Piedmont Road in San Jose, but it wasn't:

"All of a sudden I hear this huge volume of gas coming out of here. And the whole house fills full of gas here. So we just said let's get out of the house real quick and that's what we did," said Bob Brown, homeowner.

Brown was the first to notice his gas meter severed. Firefighters arriving on the scene were concerned the gas could ignite and cause an explosion. They evacuated a total of three homes and had other nearby residents' shelter in place.

"Gas makes me nervous. Electricity makes me nervous. A lot of things because you know we train on and get familiar with, but ultimately you don't know where it has an opportunity to get to," said San Jose Fire Capt. Jason Bivens.

It took PG&E crews about an hour and 45 minutes to cap the leak. At that time, everyone was let back into their homes. As for the driver of the pickup, he didn't stick around to talk with police.

"He kind of split -- I couldn't catch up to him. And police informed me that the car was stolen. The truck was stolen," said Bob Brown, homeowner.

The homeowner said he has insurance, the biggest issue for his family is getting the wall fixed and getting natural gas back to the home.