Mom, Daughter Narrowly Avoid Harm As SUV Plows Into Home During New Year's Celebration
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) - A Longmont family is starting the new year cleaning up after a suspected drunk driver plowed into their home.
"I would say the engine was right about here," said Kama Deneau as she was pointing out an oil spot on her living room floor to a CBS4 crew.
The spot is where an SUV came to rest after crashing through the back of her home on New Year's Eve.
"The right corner of his front bumper was in the wall and there's a piece of my table leg still stuck right there," Deneau said.
Deneau and her daughter Kristyn Lillie decided to to wrap gifts for her grandson at approximately 7:30 p.m.
"We had just opened a bottle of wine, which is on the ceiling now," she said, pointing out the red marks on the ceiling.
Before sitting down at the dining room table, Lille suggested they get some ribbon from the garage.
They got up to do so, and it turned out to be not a moment to soon. The minute the car struck the house they started running.
"It's that 'What if?' effect. I was talking to her across the table, to my daughter, and 2 seconds -- it would have been 2 seconds," Deneau said.
"It scares me even thinking about would could have happened," Lillie said.
Remarkably, neither one was injured. The driver wasn't either.
"It could have killed someone so easily," Deneau said.
With a makeshift wall in place, the family is now able to stay in the home, but days later they are still finding pieces of that SUV and glass just about everywhere.
"I was just looking through the pictures and got stuck with a piece of glass again," Deneau said.
Despite the unbelievable amount of damage and what will likely be a lengthy cleanup period, they are beyond thankful.
"This stuff can be replaced and stuff can be fixed," Deneau said.
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.
