NORTH LOGAN, Utah — “Nine times out of ten, we’re down there” is what North Logan resident Tate Thurston said while watching firefighters brace a wall in his living room Monday night, just an hour after a Subaru Crosstrek came crashing through his rental home.
Standing at the kitchen counter with his wife and two kids, Thurston said his wife turned around just in time to see the vehicle come crashing through their back fence, through their yard and through the back of their home.
“She got up, turned around, looked up and screamed,” Thurston said. “I looked up right before it hit the house; she saw it hit the fence and then come through the yard.”
“It took me a good 30 seconds to even react,” he later added. “My wife was screaming and I just sat and stared for a while. I couldn’t even figure out what even happened.”
Somehow, the Thurston family, their two dogs and the driver of the vehicle were nearly completely unharmed, according to Thurston and North Park Police Department Chief Kent Goodrich.
While the cause of the accident is still under investigation, Goodrich said early signs are pointing to the driver experiencing some kind of “medical issue,” and nothing “suspicious” has been found in the vehicle.
He also said he’d never seen something quite like this before.
Traveling east on 2200 North, the driver reportedly blew through the stop sign at the three-way intersection at 1200 East, never attempted to make a stop, and veered southeast through the driveway of a separate home before entering the property owned by Thurston’s in-laws.
By the time Thurston raced upstairs to check on the dogs, the woman had begun to get out of her car and was eventually helped out by the Thurstons and others.
The damage to the home included the destruction of a load-bearing wall — which firefighters replaced with braces — a television — which ended up on the other side of the room — a sizable chunk of the home’s foundation, two windows, a couch and more.
“Thanks to the fire department,” Thurston said. “They showed up quick.”