StarBulletin.com

Driver plows car through a house


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POSTED: Monday, February 16, 2009

After driving her speeding car through a Kapolei home, an allegedly drunken 19-year-old woman pleaded with the homeowner, “;Don't tell my mother,”; neighbors said.

At about 3:45 a.m. Saturday, the woman's boyfriend was called to a party on Halahinano Street in Kapolei Knolls to pick her up because she was intoxicated, police said. When the boyfriend arrived, the woman got into her car and sped away on Halahinano, a dead-end street.

She crashed into a two-story house at the end of the cul-de-sac, continued through the living room and kitchen, and did not stop until she was on the backyard patio.

Police said a family of four was sleeping upstairs at the time, and no one was injured. The car took out the load-bearing beam, causing the house to sag.

The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and arrested on suspicion of underage drunken driving, police said.

Mark and Sylvia Tsuda own the home at 91-1540 Halahinano St., which is valued at $340,800, according to the city property tax Web site.

Sylvia Tsuda, reached by phone yesterday, said she was waiting for things to be processed and declined further comment.

Plywood covered the gaping holes on the front and side of the house yesterday. The kitchen sink, dishwasher and other mangled items remained on the backyard patio.

Ken Fortin was asleep two doors down when he was woken up by a loud car muffler.

“;I heard a revving of an engine, and then I heard a boom,”; Fortin said.

He went to the house, looked in and saw the silver Honda Civic sedan sticking halfway out the back wall. It had taken out everything in its path, he said.

“;It was destruction. The furniture was ripped to shreds,”; he said. “;Stuff flew into the bedroom upstairs.”;

The family told him they were OK.

“;It was, like, surreal,”; he said. “;They were so calm I couldn't believe it.”;

Then Fortin went over to the driver, who was lying on the ground beside the car with her arms spread.

Asked whether she was OK, she said, “;I'm sorry I drove into your house.”;

He said the woman had a cut above her left eye and a bruised shoulder and was inebriated. He estimated the car was traveling 50 to 60 mph to clear the hill before the house.

Then the woman told Mark Tsuda, “;Don't tell my mother,”; according to Fortin's wife, Stephani, who added that the car apparently was registered to the woman's mother.

Police gave the woman a sobriety test, which she failed, and placed her in an ambulance, Stephani Fortin said.

Afterward, Fortin said she gave Sylvia Tsuda and her son a hug. “;They were in shock,”; she said. “;They were in a daze.”;