Duke Wolsley of Hurst, Il. backed into a CIPS pole at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 19 causing the pole and wires to fall into Forest Hall at 820 W. Freeman St. and creating $1,000 in property damage. The Carbondale Police said that Wolsley’s vision was obstructed by a bush.

Wolsley, a dump truck driver, was backing into an alley behind Forest Hall when his truck struck the pole, knocking it through two rooms on the second floor.

Shih-Wen Lin, 22, of Forest Hall said the pole landed in her room.

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The house started to shake, then the whole window just fell on top of me while I was sleeping, she said. After I got up and looked, the whole window frame looked distorted and twisted. Live electrical wires were torn from the pole as it fell, burning holes in two cars parked below.

The wires also fell onto Wolsley’s truck, trapping him for two hours until the Carbondale Fire Department could clear them away.

The incident caused electricity to go out in a two block area according to Carbondale Police.

Hugh D. Hughes the owner of Forest Hall said the power failure made things uncomfortable.

We were out of electricity until 8:00 that night, and with the heat we really needed the air conditioning. Three residents were taken to Carbondale Memorial Hospital where they were treated for minor injuries. Hughes paid for a hotel room for the three residents until the repairs could be made on their rooms.