Driver Crashes Into Nursing Home, Resident Injured
STILLWATER, Minn. (WCCO) -- A drunk driver crashed his SUV into a Stillwater nursing home early Sunday morning and hit a resident, authorities said.
The car's impact with the nursing home wall was so strong that Eugene Lehmicke's bed was thrown across the room.
Lehmicke's bed sat right next to the window. He remembers waking up when his roommate went to use the bathroom.
"So, I got up and I was just kind of looking over the bed. And all of a sudden, that's when the guy hit the window," Lehmicke said.
The crash happened just after 1 a.m. at the Golden Living Center off Greeley Street in Stillwater.
Sgt. Jeff Magler, of the Stillwater Police Department said the driver was heading east on Olive Street when he first hit a parked truck and a parked car before going up the embankment and crashing into the nursing home.
Lehmicke said that all he remembers immediately after the crash is the car's engine running.
"There was bricks and rubbles next to me. The window was laying partly on my foot and leg," he said.
Lehmicke was treated and released from the hospital. All he has to show for the crash is a bruised arm.
"I was lucky I didn't lose my head in the whole thing," Lehmicke said.
He said if he wasn't a believer before, he is now.
"Somebody loves me. They say there's a God in heaven, I guess," he said.
Neither the driver nor Lehmicke's roommate needed to be hospitalized.
The driver has been booked from drunk driving and police still aren't sure how fast he was driving.
The incident is still under investigation.
