Father charged after 13-year-old daughter drives car into Mesa law office: police

MESA, Ariz. - A Valley father is in hot water, accused of letting his 13-year-old daughter drive his car. The girl then crashed the car into a Mesa law office Friday night.

What we know:

Boarded-up walls, shattered glass, and debris are scattered across the floor, and the father is facing serious charges after the teen allegedly drove a car directly into the building on Dec. 5.

While police investigate the crash, staff are working on the cleanup.

"It looked like an explosion. The car, it was a sedan, just kind of came right through and collided," said Alison Briggs, a partner with Arizona Family Lawyers. "You can see the tire tracks right here. The car came through and then went right through those panels, which is part of our lobby and then our main conference room."

What they're saying:

Briggs is an attorney at the office and rushed back shortly after the crash.

Mesa Police said the father of the young driver, Joey Kristopher Jansen, was in the passenger seat and now faces charges of endangerment and criminal damage.

"I practice a lot of family law. My first thought was: I hope Mom has a good lawyer because that parent is incredibly irresponsible, and it made me just incredibly sad for the child," Briggs said.

Dig deeper:

No one was hurt when the car smashed through the office.

"Thank God our receptionist wasn't in there. Thank God there was no one in there meeting with clients," Briggs said.

But now the office, which is home to several firms, is left to clean up the massive mess.

"Just getting everything up and at least operational to the point that we can just exist on Monday. So we're cleaning up the glass, all that stuff," she said.

By the numbers:

They also have to deal with the costly repairs.

"Just based on the cleanup, we're probably at about $25,000 just based on having everything boarded up. And there's electrical damage. The front part of our lobby, we can't currently turn on the electricity," Briggs noted.

What we don't know:

It is still unclear why the 13-year-old was driving or how long she had been driving before the crash. Authorities are working to learn more as the investigation continues.