Third Hit-And-Run Has Manteca Pastor Worried About Intersection's Safety

MANTECA (CBS13) — A Manteca pastor and his wife are picking up the pieces for the third time after someone crashed into their home and took off again.

Gordon Richardson says it's the third time it's happened on a street corner where neighbors say drivers routinely ignore stop signs.

He says his likes living on the corner, because it makes him an easy guy to find if neighbors need help. It's a perfect location, except for the one major, recurring problem.

"He lost control over here, if you can see the skid marks," the pastor points out.

Surveying the damage, Richardson and his wife, Sandie, have to be feeling a bad case of deja vu.

"He hit that thing hard. Had to be flying," Sandie said.

Their home has been hit three times, the latest happening in the middle of the night on Saturday. Gordon took pictures of the BMW that lost control and was left with the keys in the ignition.

The car's occupants were nowhere to be found. Neighbors heard them laughing as they ran off.

"To hit-and-run like that is pretty bad," Gordon said. "To ruin someone's property and take off."

Maybe it's more than bad luck. The Richardsons say they live at a bad intersection with a four-way stop that some drivers ignore.

"They don't even stop, they just blow right through that stop sign," Gordon said. "Kinda dangerous with a school down the road."

Since they say the stop sign doesn't appear to be working, CBS13 called the city of Manteca trying to get answers about what the city could do to slow people down.

The city says they will look at putting in more signs leading up to the intersection, or changing it to a roundabout.

Sandie says something has to be done after a hit-and-run crash that snapped their water line and left a long crack in the ceiling.

"I don't want to have to go through this again," she said. "I mean it's a lot of work and stress."

The Richardsons may install concrete pillars around their yard's edge and hiding them with bushes. It might not be a great design choice, but they say at this point they just want to protect their home.