WEST PARIS – A truck, snowmobile and canoe were damaged, but no one was injured when a driver crashed into a garage in West Paris early Sunday morning.
Belinda Lebroke was getting ready for work at 4:50 a.m. Sunday when a pickup truck hit her two-car garage. “I thought my house was coming down around my head,” she said. She looked out her window and didn’t see the truck, but she heard it squealing.
The truck came across the Lebroke’s lawn on High Street, hit a snowmobile outside the garage, and pushed a fiberglass canoe through the garage wall, totaling Lebroke’s pickup. Lebroke said tire tracks show that the driver went into a ditch on the left side of the road, knocking down a mailbox, before crossing back over to the right side and onto the Lebroke property.
“He could have killed all of us,” Lebroke said. “It’s just fortunate that our garage stopped him.”
The impact of the crash warped the wall of a breezeway connecting the garage to the house, popping the breezeway door open. Lebroke said that if the truck had been just a few feet to the left, it would have come through the living room wall instead. “We’re pretty blessed” that the damage was not worse, she added.
Maine state troopers responded to the accident, but could not be reached Monday for details on the incident. West Paris firefighters stood by while the truck was removed from the garage, in case anything was ignited by the accident. They checked the wall and wiring before leaving to be sure they were structurally sound.
The Lebrokes are still waiting to hear if the driver’s insurance will cover the damage. If not, they will file a claim on their homeowner’s insurance.
Lebroke’s husband, Robert Jr.; son Brady; and mother, Bonney Abbott; live with her in the two-story home. “It’s really been quite stressful for him,” Lebroke said of 13-year-old Brady.
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