2 displaced after stolen truck plows into, destroys Hemet home

HEMET — Two people were displaced after their home was destroyed when a stolen pickup truck plowed into the couple’s residence Sunday evening, Dec. 9. Although three of the occupants from the truck fled from the scene, area residents who heard the crash managed to chase down and detain at least one female. Witnesses later said the female – who claimed to be pregnant – pulled a knife on a teenage boy and others who chased her, but that she was ultimately subdued and held for law enforcement officers.

The crash, which left the home “red tagged” and uninhabitable, happened in the Sierra Dawn Estates neighborhood, at the corner of San Lorenzo Dr. and Santa Teresa Way, in Hemet.

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Hemet Police and Fire Departments, along with other emergency personnel, were dispatched to the scene just before 9 p.m., after receiving reports of a pickup truck that crashed into a home. 911 callers reported seeing three people flee from the truck after it crashed into the house, possibly a male and two females. Witnesses also later reported seeing the male driver of the truck jump into a second pickup truck and flee the area, abandoning the female who was later detained by area residents.

While officers were racing to the scene 911 callers updated that citizens had chased down and were detaining one of the two who fled from the wrecked truck and that the female had pulled a knife on them before being detained.

Firefighters who were first to arrive at the scene reported finding a silver Ford F150 pickup truck with an attached tow dolly inside the living room of a residence. Firefighters also advised both occupants had made it out from the home safely and neither were injured.

Officers who arrived moments later detained the female who had been apprehended by citizens and began investigating the cause of the crash. The young blonde, who has not yet been publicly identified, was later seen being interviewed by officers as she sat crying on the sidewalk.

The female, who did not appear injured in any way, was later evaluated and treated at the scene before being transported to Hemet Valley Hospital for further evaluation. It was not immediately known if she was arrested or faced any charges related to the incident.

Officers learned that the truck that crashed into the home had no plates on it and quickly determined the pickup had been reported stolen from the Palm Springs area. It was not immediately known if the tow dolly attached to the pickup truck was also stolen. Both the wrecked truck and trailer were later towed from the area after being pulled from inside the destroyed home.

Local electric and gas companies were summoned to the scene to shut off utilities to the destroyed home, so firefighters and other officials could safely work inside the residence.

While officials worked at the scene, destroyed items such as wrapped Christmas presents, household items, furniture, and other debris, could be seen littered throughout the home, through the gaping hole left by the pickup.

Fire officials were later seen explaining to the homeowners that once the front of their heavily damaged home was boarded up, the home would be “red-tagged” and the couple would not be allowed back into their residence until the home was made safe.

The homeowners, Rich and Blessie Cooper, who managed to escape the terrifying ordeal without injury, were later interviewed at the scene by Eddie George and Ricardo Ruelas of Hemet News about their frightening experience.

Despite the tragic loss of their home, the couple said they were “very thankful to still be alive,” and “grateful for the outpouring of support” they had already received.

“We were sitting in our house minding our own business when a truck suddenly came into the living room uninvited, without using the door,” Rich quipped with a laugh, while holding Blessie close to him as she stood bundled up from the cold in a Red Cross blanket.

Blessie credited a “bad stomach ache” with possibly saving the couple from harm, explaining that at that time of night the couple would normally have been in the living room watching TV. Because she was not feeling well, Blessie said when the truck smashed into their home she was in the couple’s bedroom and her husband had been in his office.

“If we had been in the living room we would have been squished,” Rich explained, saying he and his wife first became aware of the crash when they heard “a big kaboom” and felt the entire house shake from the impact.

“There was an enormous boom and the whole house shook and at first we thought it was an earthquake, but junk came flying from the living room into the rest of the house,” Rich told Hemet News. When he came running from the back of the home, Rich said he could not process what he was seeing at first.

“Geez, that’s not supposed to be there,” Rich explained with a laugh. “It just did not fit with my normal experience.”

Rich later learned the impact moved the entire house off its foundation, but he joked that even though he could no longer open his front door, his home now features a “huge, drive-thru, side door.”

Area resident, Carrie Bruce, later told Hemet News she was sitting inside her home watching TV when she heard the “screeching of tires followed by a big bang.”

Bruce said she ran from her home to see what caused the loud boom and found other neighbors already outside their homes. Witnesses said people were seen exiting the wrecked truck and fleeing from the destroyed home on foot.

According to Bruce, she ran back home and jumped into her vehicle with her 16-year-old son, intent on chasing down the fleeing suspects. When the mother and son spotted one of the alleged suspects, her son tried to apprehend and detain her. According to Bruce, although the female pulled a knife on her teenage son, she was ultimately detained and held by her son and other citizens until police arrived.

Officers who investigated the crash determined the stolen truck and trailer had been traveling southbound on Santa Teresa Way at high speed and failed to negotiate a left turn onto San Lorenzo Dr. The out of control pickup jumped a curb, barely missing a large tree, and then smashed up and over a raised brick planter, launching into the home’s living room.

A tow truck later responded to the scene and used a winch to pull the wrecked truck and trailer from inside the destroyed home. Both were later towed from the scene, while officials worked to shore up, secure, and board the gaping hole left in the front of the ruined home.

The Coopers later said that even though their home was destroyed and all the couple’s Christmas presents for their children and grandchildren were ruined, they were thankful for all the help they had already received from area residents and officials. Rich and Blessie also thanked the American Red Cross, saying they arrived at the scene “right away” with help, temporary housing, and other assistance for the displaced couple.

Hemet Police Lt. Nate Miller later explained the department’s investigation is ongoing and officers investigating the crash are still in the process of confirming the suspects’ identities.

Anyone with information regarding their investigation to contact them at (951) 765-2400. Callers can remain anonymous.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of 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 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. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s 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.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.