Excitement on my street

This morning when I went out to get my paper, I noticed my neighbor's car was parked at an odd angle in her driveway. This neighbor is the main caretaker of a man in a wheelchair, and there are usually 2-3 other helpers at the house at any one time. As I looked closer, I saw that the rear bumper was damaged, with debris spread over the yard. I walked over to investigate, and one of the helpers was coming out, and I asked him what happened. He looked groggy, and said he didn't know. And then he said "my truck's been stolen." Hmm.

Turns out, at 3 am, a car was speeding down my street and my house is at the inward point of a shallow curve. He jumped my curb, drove across my driveway, missing my car by about 3 feet. He missed the large 12 passenger van in front of her house before crashing in to her little car and the helper's truck, and missed running over a fire hydrant too. The driver left his car, ran down the street to his own house a block away, followed by an across the street neighbor who was awake. The driver was taking his clothes off as he ran, apparently so no one could see him. The across the street neighbor called the police to the driver's house, and they took him to jail for DUI and marijuana possession.

The police tried to wake up the neighbor, but with the ventilator running in the house, they couldn't hear. So the police hauled away the driver's car, the helper's totaled truck, leaving the little car, and a fourth vehicle, the handicapped van, with front end damage. And I slept through it all. I slept poorly last night, got up around 3 to go to the bathroom, and I can sort of remember a dream of some noise of a loud car, but it's hard to tell if that is real or I am inventing it after the fact.

So one drunk and/or high 25 year old guy caused a lot of damage. Luckily, no one was injured- he had some minor scrapes. He could have hit and killed someone. He could have crashed into my house, or my neighbor's house. So far he's being held for two misdemeanor charges- DUI and reckless driving- only $7000 bail. He has no insurance, and could be cited for that, plus leaving the scene of a crime, and marijuana possession. And how bizarre. My poor neighbors- sleeping in their own home, and this guy just wrecks three of their vehicles. Hopefully their insurance will cover it, or sue the guy for damages. Of course, he's probably unemployed and has no money. What a mess.

But again, he could have killed someone, or wrecked into a house. So I am grateful he did not. Small blessings.