By Moses Leos III
A Kyle family was left to pick up the pieces after a pickup truck careened off of Burleson Road in the early morning hours on Dec. 21 and into their living room.
The incident happened around 3 a.m. in the 100 block of Bellair Drive.
According to a Kyle police accident report, officers found a 2014 Black Dodge Ram pickup truck crashed into the front of the residence owned by Cesain Macedo and Marisela Lazo.
No one inside of the home was injured as a result of the crash. Lazo said her family, including her three children, was sleeping in the back of the house when the accident happened.
The driver of the truck, Nimbe Nunez, 28, of Kyle, was transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin. She is expected to recover from her injuries.
According to the report, police interviewed a witness that arrived at the scene, who told them he had seen Nunez drinking at Desperados Dance Hall in downtown Kyle earlier that evening. The witness informed police that he saw Nunez get into an argument with her husband and that she left the hall in an “emotional” state. It’s unknown what time Nunez left the dance hall.
The witness told police Nunez “stopped by” their house along Selvera Street before driving northbound on Burleson. It is unknown how long Nunez was at the witness’ house prior to the accident.
It’s also unknown if Nunez was inebriated at the time of the accident, as no field sobriety test was performed.
Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said sobriety tests are sometimes not performed on drivers following a major collision, for fear of further injuring the driver. However, he said charges against Nunez could be possible.
“Charges are possible, but we want to have the opportunity to talk with the driver and gain her information,” Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett said.
Rene Aguirre, who lives at 101 Bellair Drive, was the first to respond to the accident immediately after it happened.
Aguirre was asleep when he initially heard the sound of a crash at around 3 a.m. The crashing sound continued when he fully awoke.
He went outside to see what happened and realized the corner guardrails and stop sign were in the street. He then glanced over to his neighbor’s house and saw the front porch had collapsed.
When he got closer to the house he realized the vehicle was “buried in the front wall.”
“When I got there, the driver was unconscious and the vehicle was in the front living room,” Aguirre said. “But I couldn’t get to it. There was debris everywhere and I was barefoot.”
By that time, Aguirre had already called Kyle Police; he said officers responded “within a minute.” Aguirre said the driver was unconscious when he arrived, and that fluids were leaking from the truck and the engine was running.
Other neighbors soon went outside to check on the disturbance. Aguirre said the family’s next door neighbors soon took Lazo, Macedo and their family into their home.
According to the police report, Nunez was alert and conscious when officers arrived and approached the vehicle. Officers asked Nunez to turn off the truck, but Nunez had already thrown the keys out of the window. However, according to the report, the engine appeared to continue running.
Officers then carried Nunez from the vehicle after observing fluids leaking from the vehicle and smelling gasoline.
But Aguirre said Nunez was “belligerent” with police.
“She was fighting everybody, it didn’t matter who it was. It was nuts,” he said. He went on to say that Nunez continued her belligerent state until she was taken away in an ambulance.
Aguirre said he and other neighbors have helped the family salvage their home. Ultimately, he was grateful that no one was hurt.
“Everything that was destroyed is replaceable,” Aguirre said. “You can’t replace people.”
