POCATELLO — After waking to the sound of a loud crash outside his basement bedroom around 2 a.m. on June 2, Scott Heide said he peered outside his window and thought he might still be dreaming after seeing the underside of a car directly overhead.

“It took a double-take, but sure enough there was a car in my window well,” said Heide, a former member of Air Force Special Forces. “I heard a big crash and I could hear what I assumed was probably a busted gas line because it was screaming rather loudly.”

Upon exiting the residence in the 1500 block of South Second Avenue, Heide witnessed the driver trying to reverse the car out of the egress window well.

Elise Larou Metz, 25, of Pocatello, has been charged with driving under the influence second offense and striking fixtures upon or adjacent to a highway.

Police said Metz crashed her Kia sedan into Heide's house near Idaho State University. The impact breached a natural gas line and sent the home’s natural gas meter flying into a nearby fence.

“As she was trying to move the car back and forth I was screaming and yelling that there was a gas leak and to get out of the car,” Heide said. “She did get out of the car and was very non-responsive to what was going on.”

After realizing the seriousness of the situation caused by the ruptured gas line, Heide then re-entered the residence to retrieve his 7-year-old son and cellphone to notify police.

“My boy and I came back out in front of the house and as he was putting on his pajamas out on the sidewalk this woman was back in her car again,” Heide said. “She wasn’t trying to start the car or anything, though, and one of the neighbors joked, ‘of course she had to grab her phone and makeup.’”

When police and fire units arrived at the residence a short time later, they said the driver of the car was nowhere to be found.

“She preceded to head down South Second (Avenue),” Heide said. “But Pocatello police, Fire Department and Intermountain Gas all responded very quickly. They were right on top of it.”

Police located and arrested Metz later June 2 in the area of 1107 S. Fifth Ave. Police said Metz is the registered owner of the Kia and was the vehicle’s only occupant when it hit the house. She was not hurt in the crash.

In addition to breaching the natural gas line leading into the house, the impact of Metz’s car caused minor damage to the window well, storm door, vinyl siding and the home’s natural gas meter.

“I would say it probably took 2 hours to get the car out of there,” Heide said. “It took quite a bit of work to get the car out of that window well. It was in there pretty good.”

Natural gas was leaking when emergency responders initially arrived on the scene. But firefighters were able to quickly shut it off via a valve on the exterior of the home before an explosion could occur.

Heide and his son were the only occupants in the home and received no injuries in the crash. Police allowed them to return to the residence later that day after Intermountain Gas repaired the breached gas line and replaced the gas meter.

Other than the temporary evacuation of the family at the house that was struck by the car, there were no other evacuations due to the crash.

Police said it appears that prior to the crash Metz was heading west on Lawton Street, which ends at South Second. But rather than turning north or south on South Second, she continued past the road and struck the house.

“How she made it without hitting the tree or the car, or ending up on the front porch, I’m rather flabbergasted,” Heide said. “It just goes to show, you never know. But I got to tell you it was a little nerve-racking going to sleep again the next night.”