Highland Family Demands City Make Street Safer After Car Plowed Into Home
HIGHLAND (CBSLA.com) — A San Bernardino man whose home has been the site of four car crashes in two years is pleading with the city to stop speeding drivers on his street.
Jeff Sauerwein says he, his wife, their son and 11-month-old daughter woke up to a loud boom early Easter Sunday morning.
The family, which lives in the 7400 block of Tuolumne Lane in Highland, ran outside and called 911, only to find a suspected drunk driver had careened into the residence.
"We're asleep in bed and all of a sudden the house shakes. Sounds like a big explosion. We both jumped up. Me and my wife look at each other. We thought it was an earthquake," he said.
"All of a sudden I see the driver of the car got out, ran around the back of my house and then hopped a wall on the other side of my house to take off running."
San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies arrested Jaysean Kornegeay on suspicion of drunk driving.
But Sauerwein says the city isn't doing anything to prevent further crashes like the one last weekend from happening again. In fact, he says it's the fourth time in two years an impaired driver has struck into his fence, his wall or his home.
"What's it gonna take? For a car to hit my house or someone to die? Well, last Sunday someone hit my house. Thank God no one died," he said.
Sauerwein says he's complained to the city repeatedly to do something to stop speeding drivers on the dead end road that makes a hard right turn just past his house - but he's never heard back.
"No response. No email, no callback we've got nothing," he said.
Sauerwein's home is now uninhabitable. He says contractors are working around the clock to repair it while his family is staying nearby.
"There's just a cloud of dust and debris. The whole wall's caved in under my car," he said. "They basically red-tagged it because there's no gas. There's no water. My whole first floor's flooded."
He hopes now the city will finally take action.
"We need signage. We need speed bumps," he said.
