Police: Car drives into apartment, onto bed where children were sleeping

A car drove through the brick wall of an apartment building and onto a bed where two young children were sleeping Friday morning in Des Moines, police said.

One of the children suffered a scrape on the face, likely from debris, but aside from that no one was injured, Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek said. Neither child was struck by the car.

The crash happened about 8:45 a.m. at Oakview Terrace Apartments, at Boston Avenue and 30th Street.

The car was parked facing the building, and the driver forgot to put the car in reverse, Parizek said. So, instead of backing out of her parking space, the driver, a woman in her 20s, drove forward, onto a few feet of grass before striking the building's brick wall.

The crash appeared to be truly accidental, so the driver likely will not face criminal charges, Parizek said at the crash scene. Accidental crashes like this one, on private property, are often addressed in civil court, not criminal, he said. But the crash remains under investigation by police.

Along with Des Moines police officers and fire department medics, city building inspectors were also on scene to assess the stability of the apartment building. Parizek said the building was still evacuated at about 10 a.m., and people would be allowed back inside once it was deemed safe.

The children who were sleeping when the car hit were 20 months old and 8 months old, Parizek said. He added that it was "very, very fortunate" the children were not seriously hurt.