Pickup crashes into home

A pickup crashed through a chain-link fence and caused several thousand dollars of damage to a business and residence in Electric City in the middle of the night last Thursday.

A police report on the crash stated that the vehicle, a 2009 Toyota Tacoma pickup, was found embedded in the side of the residence at 8 Coulee Boulevard, after hitting the corner of the structure, smashing a dumpster and crashing through a steel fence. The structure houses a tanning parlor and a residence.

The collision happened about about 1 a.m. last Thursday morning.

The vehicle was registered to Samuel T. Halverson, 27, who gave his residence as Grand Coulee, the report stated. He had been near that location earlier and returned home with another person, leaving his keys behind.

Later that day, Halverson reported to police that his vehicle had been stolen.

Police Sgt. Gary Moore said Monday that the accident was still under investigation and the occupants of the vehicle at the time of the accident were unknown.

"I have great faith in the Grand Coulee Police Department and that they will find out who is responsible," commented Lynette P. Zierden, owner of the property. She said that after the crash she heard male voices, but by the time she got outside they were gone.

Zierden said that at the time of the crash, she was wearing headphones and didn't hear anything. But she immediately heard from a friend nearby who said it sounded "like an explosion."

The driver of the pickup had been headed south on SR-155 and attempted to turn left onto Western Avenue, apparently losing control and hitting the Zierden property.

The pickup ended up in the closet area of Zierden's bedroom, tossing items all over.

Some of the items belonged to her late mother and this was a personal loss, Zierden explained.

The vehicle was removed by Jeff's Towing and placed into evidence by police.

Tuesday, police were still working on the case and couldn't provide information on who was in the pickup at the time of the accident.