HEMET: Moments after father & children leave home, truck plows into, destroys entire structure

HEMET — Emergency first responders from multiple agencies raced to the scene of a single-vehicle crash earlier this evening, after receiving reports of a truck that plowed into a home at the intersection of East Menlo Avenue and Haley Way.  Callers reported that several children were possibly inside both the destroyed truck and home, which sits between Buena Vista and N. Santa Fe Streets, in Hemet.

SEE SIMILAR: Car plows into nail salon (Link will be added after article published. Please check back.)

City of Hemet Police and Fire, along with AMR and Riverside County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments were dispatched the scene of the crash about 5:40 p.m., after receiving multiple 911 calls reporting the accident. 911 callers told emergency dispatchers a family with children lived at the home and were possibly in the house when the truck plowed into it. Callers also reported that children may have been inside the truck when it crashed.

When officials arrived they found a burgundy Dodge Ram pickup truck that had plowed through the front wall of the home, which sits just east of the “T” intersection. Officials found the driver already outside the truck and crowds of curious area residents were beginning to form in and around the scene of the accident.

Firefighters and officers quickly determined nobody was inside the home and that there had only been one occupant inside the truck at the time of the wreck. The driver was reportedly uninjured and after being evaluated by AMR medics, declined further medical treatment at the scene.

According to witnesses, the homeowner later told officials and others he had left the home with his children “just moments” before the wreck, and had been taking the children to their mother’s house when the accident happened.

The 824 sq. ft., 2 bedroom, 1 bath, brick home – which was built in 1952 – was left completely destroyed and unlivable, and was later red-flagged due to its extensive exterior and interior damage.

The wrecked pickup was eventually pulled from inside the home, revealing the extensive damage caused when it plowed into and through the front wall of the home. The dodge’s flattened front-end was pushed several feet into the truck’s engine compartment.

Most of the front of the home was destroyed or heavily damaged, including both front windows and front door. The home’s roof was sagging and inside the structure, the home’s weight bearing wall and ceiling had collapsed.

Officials later determined that after crashing at high speed through the front, brick wall of the home the truck continued into one of the home’s bedrooms, where it then smashed through an interior wall and into the front room of the home. The truck eventually came to rest in the home’s small kitchen.

The tremendous impact sent dozens of six-pound bricks launching through the home – like unguided missiles – pulverizing and destroying virtually everything within the residence.

Other than the interior of a small, corner closet – the outside of which was also heavily damaged – no section of the home was left untouched or undamaged by the crash.

Southern California Gas Company and other utility officials later responded to the scene to shut off utilities to the home and property.

City of Hemet building inspectors later responded to the scene to determine if the residence could be salvaged or repaired, at which time the home was red-flagged.

The sound of the tremendous impact brought area residents from as far as several blocks away.

One such resident, Amy Rippleton, said she ran to the scene from her nearby home after hearing what she described as sounding “like a sonic boom, but worse. More like a massive explosion.”

“There was a massive boom that shook my whole house,” Rippleton explained. “I swear to God, at first I thought a plane must’ve crashed into the house while trying to land,” Rippleton said, explaining her home and the destroyed residence both sit within the flight path of nearby Hemet-Ryan Airport. “I literally just grabbed my son and ran out the front door.”

“I think I may have been screaming, I was that terrified,” Rippleton explained, adding her son was crying as she ran from her home. “But when I saw several other neighbors run out and realized a truck had hit the house down the street, we all just ran in that direction to see if we could help. I wanted to call 911 but I ran from my house so fast I never had a chance to grab it.”

“I just can’t believe (omitted) and his kids weren’t there because there is just no way in the world anyone inside that home could’ve survived,” Rippleton later opined. “That whole family should be dead right now.”

Several hours after the crash, shortly before midnight, an area resident reported on social media seeing at least two to three people with flashlights going through the interior of the home. To the person it appeared the people were searching for valuable inside the home and numerous people told the witness to immediately call 911 to report the incident; of which no further information was available.

Hemet PD is investigating the cause of the crash and have not yet released any information about their investigation, which is active and ongoing.

Click any image to open full-size gallery.

 

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.