I was awakened by the dogs around 3:00am Saturday morning.  They were barking at the police cars and wrecker that were sitting out in front of the house.  The wrecker was there for the smashed-to-hell SUV that was on the lawn across the street and the police officers were talking to its driver, who was sitting on the curb.  When my foggy brain comprehended what was going on I decided it would be a good idea to go outside and check my mother’s car to be certain that it didn’t get hit.  Fortunately, it was OK, but my neighbor across the street was not so lucky.

The young man in the SUV had been heading north on our street at a high rate of speed (the police estimated it at 50mph) when he came up on the curb and clipped a brick mailbox (it was knocked over, but intact with a few scratches).  His SUV then came across my neighbor’s lawn and smashed into the right-rear corner of the pickup, which was parked in the driveway.  The impact spun the truck’s front left corner into the garage door before the SUV pushed it into the middle of the lawn. 

In a way, it was lucky that the pickup truck was parked in the driveway.  Had it not been there, the path of the SUV would likely have taken it into the front bedroom of the house, which is where my neighbor was sleeping at the time. 

Oh, and the SUV driver?  He was taken away by KPD on a drunk-driving charge.  According to my neighbor the guy reeked of alcohol when he got out of the SUV.  Further, he appears to have been racing another vehicle, which my neighbor heard speeding away after the crash (the other vehicle was likely what forced the SUV onto the curb, since there was a car parked on the other side of the street there).

The SUV driver had almost made it home.  He was only one block from his house, which sits at the end of our street on the cross street.  You can see his house from here.