ELYRIA, Ohio — News 5 is following through as an Elyria City Councilmember has proposed purchasing a problem home at the end of the Chestnut Ridge Road and South Abbe Road intersection.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
In seconds, Dennis and Patricia Campanalie's lives were uprooted for a fourth time in the early morning hours of Nov. 5.
"We worked hard to have something," said Campanalie. "My wife worked hard. I worked hard, not by hook or crook, but we worked hard, and boy, the wind up like this, it hurts."
The Campanalie's home has been the epicenter of crashes over the last 25 years.
Elyria Police incident reports dating back to 1995 show more than 15 car crashes at the Campanalie's address. In four of the property damage-related crashes, three people have died. Campanalie said he doesn't know how he and his wife survived the most recent crash. The car landed inches away from their bed.
"I can't, I can't even think about living here anymore," Campanalie said.
Monday evening at the Elyria city council meeting, Ward 3 Councilman Maurice Corbin III proposed the city purchase the problem home.
"The house has been hit repeatedly; the city had taken some band-aid approaches to solve the problem; I am trying to make the Campanalie's whole again," Corbin said.
"The only way we can make them whole is by buying the property, repurposing it, and hopefully allowing them to purchase property in another part of Elyria."
The city of Elyria also wants to purchase license plate cameras to install at this intersection, but Campanalie and his neighbors said they aren't optimistic cameras are enough to deter reckless drivers.
"I honestly don't see what that would do," said James Taylor.
Taylor lives a house down from Campanalie.
"The accidents are probably still going to happen because people don't respect the traffic light and they don't respect stop signs," Taylor added.
The Campanalie's home remains unlivable as they wait for insurance adjusters to visit in December. In the meantime, he hopes Corbin's proposal becomes a reality.
"I would like to see them purchase this house because I just feel we can't live here," said Campanalie. "I hope there is a blessing in there somewhere. I hope the higher power comes down and takes this burden off our backs."
