WITH VIDEO: Car crashes into Days Inn in Alpena
News Photo by Julie Riddle The rear end of a car that crashed into the Alpena Days Inn protrudes from the building on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle A Michigan State Police trooper photographs the damage left by a car that crashed into the Days Inn hotel on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle Reflected in glass still intact after a car crashed into the Days Inn in Alpena on Friday, a tow company employee readies the car for towing.
News Photo by Julie Riddle Occupants of a hotel room gather their belongings after a car crashed into the Days Inn in Alpena on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle Crumbled brick and torn drywall remain after a car broke through two walls at the Alpena Days Inn on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle A car straddles a hallway after it crashed into the Alpena Days Inn on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle The rear end of a car that crashed into the Alpena Days Inn protrudes from the building on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle A Michigan State Police trooper photographs the damage left by a car that crashed into the Days Inn hotel on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle Reflected in glass still intact after a car crashed into the Days Inn in Alpena on Friday, a tow company employee readies the car for towing.
News Photo by Julie Riddle Occupants of a hotel room gather their belongings after a car crashed into the Days Inn in Alpena on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle Crumbled brick and torn drywall remain after a car broke through two walls at the Alpena Days Inn on Friday.
News Photo by Julie Riddle A car straddles a hallway after it crashed into the Alpena Days Inn on Friday.
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ALPENA -- A translation app helped police learn what caused a car to crash into an Alpena hotel around noon on Friday.
Nobody was injured when a driver put the car into drive instead of reverse and hit the gas, smashing through two walls and into a hotel room.
The driver spoke only Spanish, and neither of the Michigan State Police troopers at the crash spoke the language fluently, stalling the ensuing police investigation. Trooper Nicholas Talbot finally solved the problem by using a translation app on his phone to communicate with the driver.
The car went through an outer, glass-paned wall and a hallway before crashing through a brick inner wall, its nose landing in a hotel room.
Once a tow worker removed the car, the room -- with a giant hole in its wall and the interior coated with bricks, drywall dust, and water from a burst pipe -- looked as though someone "threw one heck of a party," Talbot said.
The family staying in the room left for the day before the crash but considered sleeping late because they had been traveling. One family member had been sleeping on a cot on the other side of the wall demolished by the car, according to an occupant of the room.
The family, alerted by the hotel, returned to gather their belongings after the crash.
The hotel promised to move them to another room, the family said. They hoped it would be on the second floor.