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Joyride Over Lawns Angers Residents

MOUNT PROSPECT (CBS) -- Dozens of neighbors in Mount Prospect say they didn't even hear it happen: a driver carving a path through their yards and heading straight for their homes.

The tracks marked a trail of trouble all through the neighborhood. Police say a driver out of control plowed through the lawns at 33 houses, CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports.

Neighbor Ila Worth's initial reaction to the damage?

"My exact words were, 'Holy (expletive),'" she said.

She says a police officer called her about two hours after the driver mowed through her yard to give her the news.

"He's so close to the house at this corner, it's unbelievable," Worth said. "It's like, my God, he could have knocked the whole porch off."

Mount Prospect police say an officer was driving near Tano and Burning Bush Lane when she first spotted a Dodge Minivan. A little farther down the road, the officer said she saw that same van roll right through the yard of a home on the corner.

Later, police found the tracks running rampant at homes near at least six intersections. Tire tracks go across yards, through shrubbery and continue through the yard at the neighboring house.

"We didn't hear anything," Martha Ann Scodius said. "Unfortunately, we woke up this morning and saw the tire tracks. My husband took the dog for a walk a block away and had seen some tire tracks."

Driver Brian Essenberg, 19, was arrested and charged with criminal damage to property, reckless driving and possession of marijuana, police said.

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