Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

Roanoke Fire EMS personnel work on the scene of  of an accident, a car driving down Wonju Street crossed Colonial Avenue and ran into a house on the first floor and fell to the basement. The driver had a previous condition that resulted in the accident.

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See video from the Jeep crash

A Jeep Cherokee crashed into a house near Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke on Monday after the driver had a "medical event," officials said.

Roanoke police charged the driver, Rodney Clark Thomas, 71, of Floyd with failure to maintain control of a vehicle.

The two-story yellow house at the intersection of Wonju Street and Colonial Avenue was under renovation to be turned into a pet bird store.

"We thought it was a really good location -- apparently too good," said Pat Thompson, who owns the building with her daughter, Kim Mitchem.

No one was inside the house at the time of the accident.

The Jeep was traveling on Wonju Street toward Colonial Avenue when it hit a guardrail and barreled into the house, police said.

Roanoke Fire-EMS were called at 9:19 a.m. and arrived at the scene by 9:23 a.m., said department spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury. Crews had gotten Thomas out of the Jeep by 9:51 a.m., and he was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

He was in fair condition at the hospital Monday afternoon.

Fire-EMS officials declined to elaborate on the medical event that preceded the wreck.

Thompson said she and Mitchem bought the house over the summer. The building will have to be demolished and rebuilt, she said, but they still hope to open a store selling tropical birds and other items.

She added that workers had planned to be inside the house today, but luckily weren't.

"Thank goodness they weren't here because that's exactly where they'd be working," Thompson said, gesturing toward the gaping hole in the front of the house.

"It can be replaced," Thompson added. "I just hope the guy's OK."