HIGH POINT, N.C. — Bits of railing, brick, and chunks of a car sit scattered across a High Point church's front steps just days after a car plowed into the front of the building.
Church leaders said not only was this unbelievable but there was no telling how long it would take to fully repair the church.
Tony Collins was raised in the Church of God of Prophecy; he's worked there for the past decade.
"The community is shaken, the church— the congregation is shaken," Collins said.
He said arriving at the scene Sunday morning was painful. Although no one was physically hurt, he said his emotional pain runs deep.
"Yes it is just a building, but this is a pillar in our community. This is a sacred space," Collins said.
High Point police said 36-year-old Louis Coronel crashed into the church around 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Coronel was charged with failure to report an accident, an expired license, and driving without insurance.
The car Coronel was driving is still parked three houses down on Flint Avenue. WFMY News 2 obtained ring footage showing the car driving to a home on Flint Avenue.
"Looking at the scene and the destruction caused on the front of the church, we couldn't believe that someone could actually drive away," Collins said.
Police said neighbors saw the badly beaten up car in a driveway near the church and called it in. Police also said the estimated cost of damage is $10,000 but Collins believes repairs will cost thousands of dollars more.
Although the road to recovery is long and unknown, church members are still focused on giving grace, "we hope that the individual who caused this destruction, is number 1 - okay: mind, body soul, cause that's a trauma that person will have to live with as well," Collins said.
Collins said because of the historic significance of the church which was built in the 1950's, materials to replace what is broken may be hard to come by.