A investigation is underway after a car struck a house Wednesday at the intersection of Springbrook Road and Bronte Circle in Medford. 

A Medford family is without a functioning place to live, and a 15-year-old was flown to a hospital outside of the valley after a 16-year-old drove a car at “a high rate of speed” Wednesday into the side of a house at the intersection of Springbrook Road and Bronte Circle.

A silver 2008 Nissan Altima left Springbrook Road and crashed into the home on Bronte Circle at 4:49 p.m. Wednesday, the Medford Police Department said in a news release.

“It left the roadway … but we don’t know why,” Medford police Lt. Geoff Kirkpatrick said in an interview Thursday, “but it is safe to surmise, based on public information that is out there from witnesses who have posted places, that it was traveling at a high rate of speed.”

A camera at a residence on Bronte Circle is believed to have captured the car in the moments before the crash.

The family that lived in the home was there at the time of the crash, but no one inside was injured, the release said.

While it was initially thought neither of the teens in the Nissan were injured, the 15-year-old passenger was taken to a local hospital and then flown out of the valley for injuries “more serious,” than originally thought, the release said. Police did not release the names of the teens or provide information about the 15-year-old’s condition.

The investigation is being led by the Serious Traffic Accident Reconstruction team.

Medford police Officer Jason Jones was in his squad car at the location Thursday using a device to measure the “drag factor” of the road — how much the road impacts the ability for a car to stop. Deputy District Attorney Matthew Anderson was also at the scene but said he had no comment.

Kirkpatrick said “there’s definitely … possibility” of criminal charges. 

A few drivers on Springbrook Road turned their heads to look at the boarded-up hole in the house where the car struck — one woman even stopped her car.

Kirkpatrick’s message for the community in this instance was, “Slow down, plain and simple.”

The family of the damaged house was not home Thursday, but neighbors said the structure lost power and running water. A heat pump damaged almost beyond recognition was in front of the site of the crash, as well as boards covering the gaping hole in the house. 

Jimmie Mitchell and her husband, who live across the street from the damaged house on Bronte Circle, helped the family clean up the glass on the sidewalk and in the gutters. Mitchell’s husband, a contractor, helped them board up the house to make sure no one had access to it while they were gone.

“They were OK. Of course, they were all concerned about the safety of their son, who was in the other room,” Mitchell said, “(and) just worried about what they’re going to do, and how to handle things. I reassured them I’m here 24/7.”

Mitchell and her husband were not home at the time of the crash. But Mitchell’s husband captured images of the car while it was still on scene.

“I said a few explicit words,” Jiimmie Mitchell said. “I was like, ‘Oh, no, it’s not my house, but it’s my neighbors. Are they home, are they OK?'”

She said she is glad the teen driver was not seriously injured, but “his driving is very unsafe.”

“I know he is not going to have his driving privileges,” Mitchell said. 

She added that she has seen people driving dangerously on Springbrook Road before, because it is a street police don’t often patrol, she said. 

“They know there’s nobody out here, so they take off pretty fast,” Mitchell said.