A Port Richey couple is recovering after a hit-and-run driver smashed into their home while they slept Tuesday night.

  • Car crashed into the front bedroom of a home on Sandalwood Drive
  • 3 people hospitalized, including two people sleeping in the house
  • FHP: Driver who fled the scene, Robert Alan Doty, now in custody

The Florida Highway Patrol says Robert Doty drove a red Nissan Altima into the couple's bedroom. Doty took off from the scene, leaving his injured passenger behind, investigators say. He was later taken into custody at his Port Richey home.

The couple and the passenger were taken to a local hospital.

Neighbors are still recovering from the shock.

"Me and my friend were sitting in the room and we just heard a loud boom, like boom," said neighbor Haymon Parker.

“They were lucky," said Saraceni. "That's their bedroom, they got pushed through the bedroom and into the next room, through the wall and everything."

Neighbors told us nothing this bad has happened before, but they see speeders all the time.

"How can the guy miss the turn?" neighbor Frank Saraceni said. "How fast was he going to plow right through? He missed both trees."

A witness said around the same time the incident happened Tuesday night, she saw a red car speeding through the neighborhood.

Heather Kinison said she yelled at that driver to slow down. Now she thinks it was the same driver who hit her neighbor’s house.

"I mean if they would have just listened, slow down, take the time and have some respect for a residential neighborhood," Kinison said.

Kinison says she hopes this will be a wake-up call for others.

Troopers say Doty admitted to being the driver. He has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash with injury, careless driving, and failing to wear a seat belt.