The tenant of a Vancouver duplex, Sandra Weaver, was about to take a shower and was descending her stairs on Friday evening at around 9:45 when a Chrysler came smashing through her front door almost killing her and her fluffy white dog. It stopped merely 3 feet away, leaving Weaver startled to say the least.
The male driver jumped out of the car and ran on foot leaving his injured passenger.
Christy Grimes, her neighbor, rushed out to survey what she said felt like an earthquake.
The Police showed up just as quickly. How you may ask? They had been tailing the car before it lost control. But they weren’t close enough to catch the suspect until later.
Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said the driver of the Chrysler nearly caused a collision when he sped out of control through a nearby intersection. An officer flipped the switch on his lights as the car sped off.
The officer watched the driver turn onto a side road, and fearing a possible crash on narrow neighborhood streets, turned off his lights and proceeded cautiously, Kapp said.
“By the time the officer gets there a minute later, it had already taken place,” she said.
The ensuing investigation went well into the morning. The medical units took the passenger to the hospital with personal injuries, and after seven hours, dispersed leaving the car still lodged in the place where it had crashed through the door.
That’s where it remains still.
After the police had left, a group of men came to her house claiming ownership of the car and wanting to retrieve some personal effects. She sent them away and called the police, who Weaver said never responded.
Weaver, 47, said the weekend inside her unexpectedly rearranged duplex was cold. Then on Saturday night three men, tried to enter through a side door to peer at the damage, Weaver said.
“I have felt scared being here,” said Weaver, who refused to let the men enter. “I didn’t know who they were.”
That’s only one of the many complaints Weaver and Grimes have leveled against the Vancouver Police Department’s conduct during the episode.
Kapp said the homeowner is responsible for determining a path forward, including the car’s removal. She added that the residents were put in contact Friday with representatives from the city of Vancouver’s risk management division.
Insurance assessors arrived this morning to snap pictures of the damage, but also did not remove the wreckage.
Authorites say that removal of the wreckage would cause the structure to buckle.
Weaver, a disabled nurse, said that the whole situation has aggravated an existing back problem. Though Grimes has been able to move some essentials and throw together other safer living arrangements for her and her children, Weaver has been unable to make as much progress.
Displacement can be very hard for a person already suffering a disability to deal with, particularly if they require medication. A person’s recovery is dependant on a regular regiment of non-strenuous activity, physical therapy, and pain management. With a car parked in the living room, that isn’t a particularly healing environment. It may have behooved the Vancouver Police Department to offer further assistance rather than refer her to Risk management, which, by the way, may have more concern with the Police Department’s legal risk rather than Weaver’s welfare.
If you or a loved one has had significant property damage due to the negligence of another it is important that you get an experienced advocate on your side to deal with insurance and get you the full compensation you deserve. Call Phillips Webster for a free consultation.
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