Residents in the Glebe were startled by a bang Sunday morning when a car crashed into a telephone pole on Renfrew Avenue.

"We were up in our third-floor bedroom and heard a thump outside the house," said Eric Hollebone, 52. "Enough to shake the house. Some squealing of high-speed tires and then another bigger thump right outside our house."

When he looked through his window, the crashed car was on his front lawn. Hollebone said the telephone pole was broken into two separate parts.

"That's a pretty big impact," he said by phone.

Ottawa police believe the driver's injuries were minor. (Submitted by Eric Hollebone )

Hollebone said a woman was trapped in the car for approximately five minutes but was conscious. When emergency services showed up to the scene, they were able to open the car doors, allowing the woman to escape.

The Glebe resident said the woman was able to walk by herself to the nearby ambulance.

The woman was brought to the hospital, but her injuries were believed to be minor, said the duty officer for Ottawa police's central division.

"More shock than anything," he said.

Michael Crichton was going for a run and witnessed the accident.

"I saw the car swerve onto a neighbour's lawn ... then it jumped the curve onto the other side of the road," Crichton said.

"I saw the hydro pole jump and come to a rest on an angle."

Hollebone said the telephone pole is being secured and he's been told to stay in his house.