RALEIGH -- Parts of the gray 2004 BMW were scattered about the yard and on the roof of C.H. Thomas' home Friday.
A radiator lay at the yard's edge; the hood of the car, under a collapsed carport. Pieces of a brick pylon were scattered as far as 250 feet away.
Maximillian Bratton, 20, of Holly Springs died instantly early Friday when his car skidded out of control and slammed into Thomas' white, vinyl-sided home at 1911 Tryon Road. Emergency workers rushed a passenger in the car, Ethan Herring, 19, of Raleigh to WakeMed's Raleigh campus, where he is listed in critical condition, the N.C. Highway Patrol reported.
State Trooper Ceon Cayco said excessive speed and rain-slick roads contributed to the crash. He said the BMW was going about 65 mph in a 45-mph zone.
The dramatic auto crash occurred just before 12:30 a.m. Thomas and his wife were asleep, but he was jolted awake by a "boom" just outside their one-story home.
The BMW first hit the fence in front of 1913 Tryon Road, then hit the 5-foot tall brick pylon, sending bricks flying. The car plowed over a second section of fence and slammed into Thomas' house. The force of the impact was so great that a metal carport beside the home collapsed onto a minivan and pickup truck.
On Friday afternoon, Bratton's weeping parents came to salvage his possessions from the scattered wreckage. A white, button-down shirt, a blue pair of wrestling shorts and a military aptitude test prep book were among them.
Bratton had lived in India with his grandparents until he was 6. He moved to North Carolina and lived with his father and stepmother in Fuquay-Varina. He graduated from Fuquay-Varina High School and was a member of the wrestling team. His parents said he loved competitive sports, was a Boy Scout and had recently taken the military aptitude test.
"He wanted to be an Army Ranger," said his stepmother, Maria Bratton. "His dad and I wanted him to go to [N.C.] State."
Jeri Foster, who lives at 1913 Tryon Road, said cars have plowed into her fence about nine times since she moved there 21 years ago. She and her neighbors think a curve in the road is to blame for the crashes.
Standing on the roof of his home Friday, Thomas and an insurance adjuster surveyed the damage.
"I got to replace the whole front section of the roof," Thomas said.
His daughter, Sara Thomas, thinks the BMW was traveling much faster than 65 mph.
"It looks like a bomb went off," she said.
