Junk In The Trunk

A 1,500-pound wrecking ball broke loose from a crane cable and raced downhill, smashing into several cars and injuring three people before coming to rest in the trunk of a car at an intersection Monday.

The wrecking ball, about 3 feet in diameter, was being used to demolish part of a library at Allegheny College when the cable snapped, police said. The crane operator tried unsuccessfully to stop the ball.

The ball rolled nearly three-quarters of a mile downhill from the college and damaged vehicles as it bounced from curb to curb, police said.

More than a dozen vehicles were damaged, police said. Most of the damaged vehicles were parked, but the wrecking ball slammed into the rear of Alex Habay's car stopped at an intersection, causing a chain reaction accident with two other cars at the traffic light, police said.

"All of a sudden the back windshield exploded and I hit the car in front of me," said Habay, 20, a junior at Allegheny College.