photo by: Kim Callahan

A semitrailer crashed into a yard on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.

A driverless semitrailer rolled through a retaining wall and patio before coming to rest against a house’s foundation on Thursday near the University of Kansas football stadium, according to Lawrence police; it missed demolishing the house by just feet.

The Lawrence Police Department posted on Facebook that the accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The semitrailer’s driver told police he had put the brakes on and then left the truck. The truck then started to roll, and the driver unsuccessfully tried to catch up to it.

Police said the semi rolled about 300 feet from 11th and Maine streets, passing through a 4-foot retaining wall and over a patio.

On the scene, it could be seen resting next to the home at 1031 Maine St., and it appeared to have damaged an outbuilding and a fence. Markings on the side of the truck read “Unimex.”

The trailer was empty, police said in the post, and nobody was injured in the incident, although fire crews were dispatched to extinguish a small fire.

Two men who said they were the residents of the house were not at home at the time of the incident, and police called them to notify them of what happened; one of them told the Journal-World that his parents owned the house.

Hillcrest Wrecker and Heartland Recovery worked for hours on the scene trying to get the truck out. Shortly before 7 p.m., the semi had been moved away from the house and back onto the road.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A semitrailer rests between two houses after running off the road Thursday, July 25, 2024, just north of KU’s football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan

A semitrailer crashed into a yard on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan

A tow truck pulls on a semitrailer that crashed into a yard on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan

Crews work to remove a semitrailer that rolled off the road and through this retaining wall on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan

Crews work to remove a semitrailer that rolled off the road and through this retaining wall on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

It took crews from multiple wreckers several hours to remove the runaway semi from the property at 1031 Maine St. Thursday, July 25, 2024.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Multiple wreckers were employed to remove the runaway semi from the property at 1031 Maine St. Thursday, July 25, 2024, just north of KU’s football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan

Crews work to get a semitrailer back onto the road on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.

photo by: Kim Callahan

Crews work to get a semitrailer back onto the road on Thursday, July 25, 2024, near the University of Kansas football stadium.