'I Can't Believe Drunk Driving Is Still A Thing'; Senior Watching AFC Championship At Home Killed By Suspected DUI Driver
RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) – A car careened into a home just as a family inside sat down to watch the 49ers game. Detectives now say the driver was drunk at the time and even had two young kids in the car.
Lorrie Williams said she has no clue what prompted the driver of the Kia to get behind the wheel.
"Our family was in the TV room watching the 49ers game. We're huge fans...and the next thing I know, I woke up and a car was on top of me," Williams said.
But she does know the destruction that decision caused.
"I was in a lot of pain. I was really dizzy. I could tell I had a head injury. There was blood dripping everywhere," Williams said. "I could hear my husband who was sitting on the couch next to me in pain, struggling."
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office arrested driver Gary Circle for driving drunk and crashing into the home.
"When I got the phone call, they were still pinned under the car and I had no idea if they were going to survive or not," Jessica Skube, the victims' niece, said.
Deputies are also revealing that Circle also had a 4-year-old and a 12-year-old in the car at the time. The crash killed Lorrie's husband Dan's mother Janice, who was 81-years-old.
"She loves dogs. She has a dog blog. She's just a wonderful person. For a drunk driver to take her like that from us is just the most heinous thing," Williams said. "The person in custody made a horrible decision and when people are going to drive drunk that they can completely change and snuff out life. That's an absolute heinous crime."
It's a situation that family members can't begin to fathom.
"I can't believe that drunk driving is still a thing. Like, how does anybody think this is OK anymore? It's devastating to tear apart a family," Skube said.
Williams' family told CBS13 that they're rallying around the relatives who are going through the unimaginable.
"All we can do is take one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time to help them," Skube said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office told CBS13 Circle is known to law enforcement but couldn't dive too deep into his criminal record. He was arrested for driving under the influence along with other charges.
Neighbors along Williams told CBS13 there have been plenty of crashes nearly Coloma Road and Georgetown Drive. They want to see something put in place to avoid another tragedy like this from happening.
"Something needs to be done because of the accidents, how many kids that are out in the neighborhood. I see kids on bikes all of the time," Alissa Tramontanas, a neighbor said.
"There seem to be corners that are real problem areas and the speed and those types of things. And maybe there are things that they can do and we certainly hope that they will," Williams said.