When Michail Antonio drove a Lamborghini into my garden dressed as a snowman on Christmas Day
Kia Rosina was in her living room with her family on Christmas Day when a Premier League footballer dressed as a snowman crashed a Lamborghini into her front garden.
As her mother put the final touches to the turkey, Rosina, 20, was sitting with her nan and brother at around 6.30pm when they heard a “massive bang” outside their home in Balham, south London.
Michail Antonio, West Ham’s forward, had driven an Italian super car into their bin shed.
The 29-year-old was still dressed as a snowman, having put on the outfit earlier in the day and posted a video of him singing “Walking in the Air”, the theme of the 1982 animated film “The Snowman”, on Instagram. Manuel Pellegrini’s squad trained on Christmas morning and were due to report to a Croydon hotel ahead of their Boxing Day match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Rosina, who works at a school, told The Athletic. “Dinner was nearly ready and then I just heard this massive bang and the whole house shook. There are two bin sheds out there and they’re both bricks, and they went everywhere.
“At first, I thought it was a bus due to how loud the bang was. I looked outside and then I said, ‘Mum!’ then we ran outside to see if whoever was in the car was fine. As soon as I heard the bang, my heart was beating fast because obviously, I was worried. I didn’t know what was happening or if the driver had hit the house but then I looked out of the window and thankfully, it hadn’t.
“When we went out, we thought the driver was going to be hurt really badly because it didn’t look good. My mum ran out before me so by the time I got out of the house, he (had) jumped out of the car in his snowman outfit. Once we realised no one was hurt, we were all relieved.”
Rosina’s mother added: “I put my arm around him (Antonio) because I was worried. I called the police and I asked for all the services, ambulance and fire brigade, because my main concern was that it was petrol and everyone would have to get out of the house because a lot of smoke was coming from his car. So I was fearing the worst like, ‘What if the car blows up?’
“He (Antonio) was on the phone shouting to someone saying he was alright. He kept saying, ‘Don’t keep telling me I’m stupid!’ to the person on the phone (and saying), ‘You should be asking me if I’m alright’. (It seemed like) the person on the phone kept having a go at him.”
According to the family, Antonio left with the passengers who had been in the car without apologising or mentioning covering the damage. The vehicle was later removed but police did not leave the family home until around 10pm on Christmas Day and debris was still present at the scene on Thursday afternoon.
“I had no idea who he is and he wasn’t really speaking to anyone when I got outside,” Rosina adds. “He came back after with some friends and there was a group of them there but it wasn’t to say sorry. It was just to look.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/footbal ... w-west-ham
Michail Antonio car crash history
Antonio apologised to a family in Balham after crashing a Lamborghini into their front garden on Christmas Day in 2019. He was dressed as a snowman and spoke about the incident four years later on the On The Judy podcast.
"This conversation is very like… (touches chest). Still to this day, it’s hurt me. Slippery road. Obviously, in the car, it holds corners nicely in it so I’m going like 30, maybe 35, on a 30 road,” Antonio said.
“I’m thinking I don’t even need to brake, I’m just gonna go around the corner, sick car. As I’m going round the corner, it skids. So I s*** myself and I slam on the brakes.
"Worst thing you can do on ice, yeah, slam on the brakes cause you just speed up. Slam on the brakes, just skid but I’ve just gone up the curb. I don’t even remember it and then I’m seeing smoke coming out the front of the car.
"The engine's in the back so I’m thinking the car’s gonna blow up even though it’s the airbags. Having to jump out of the passenger side, the tiny car."
Sounds like a sensible fellow.
