Texting teen plows SUV through wall of Florida home

TAMPA, Fla. -- (WPTV) -- A 17-year-old girl crashed her sport-utility vehicle into a Tampa house late Wednesday night due to texting and driving.

Around 10:30 p.m., deputies responded to a call of a vehicle into a home at 7801 Winston Ln. Authorities said no one was inside the one-story block house at the time of the crash.

A restoration company representative says only the teen driver was injured in the crash. The Sheriff's Office said that the teen received minor injuries and was transported to the hospital.

Deputies said the teen was distracted by her cellphone and ran a stop sign. They also say that the teen only had her learner's permit.

Code Enforcement ordered the home vacated.

"The vehicle is going to stay where it is at until someone can come out and stabilize the home," said Robin Caton, with the Hillsborough County Consumer and Veterans Services. "There's various walls inside, and trusses and stuff. Right now if we remove the vehicle there's a greater chance that we'll cause more damage removing the vehicle before we do that."

The SUV went through the home's front wall. Caton says it will need to be maneuvered up and over the destroyed wall to get it out.