Military jet crashes in Southern California neighborhood

Three homes were damaged, but Marine officials said no one was injured Wednesday after a jet crashed in a Southern California desert community. 1st Lt. Jose Negrete said the pilot ejected safely and was taken to a hospital for evaluation. The Harrier AV-8B went down at 4:20 p.m. in Imperial, a city of about 15,000 near the U.S.-Mexico border about 90 miles east of San Diego. Witnesses described an explosion and thick plumes of smoke. The Associated Press reported that the roof of the house that took the brunt of the crash was gone, but the walls were still standing.