Collegiate Times

A teenage girl crashed her car into a townhome this afternoon at the corner of Marlington Street and Grissom Lane.

Blacksburg's Gabrielle Stephenson, 16, has been charged with failure to maintain control of her vehicle.

Police say she was turning right onto Grissom Lane when she struck the house and drove into the living room.

Currently, 458 Marlington Street is deemed unsafe for occupation according to signs posted on the building.

Three people inside the building were unharmed in the accident.

Stephenson, who is not old enough to have her full license, was driving with her grandmother at the time of the accident.

Both were taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital and released.

The incident, which occurred at about 4:30 Monday afternoon, caused an estimated $32,000 worth of damage to the townhome.

It is the fourth incidence of a car colliding with a building in Blacksburg in the past two years.

In April, a 19-year-old resident drove through a Starbuck's window on University City Boulevard while attempting to park.

During the 2007-08 academic year, two similar accidents occurred.

A vehicle ran into the porch of Sub Station II.

Another car crashed into a cement part of the Ceritano's deck, with the car sustaining the most damage in that accident.

Stephenson will appear in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Sept. 11, 2009.