UPDATE: Homeowner "sees God" in crash that damaged Valleyhigh house, injured neighbor
(ABC 6 News) – UPDATE: The Rochester homeowner whose house sustained extensive damage in a Monday night rollover crash is, for the most part, just glad no one was badly injured.
Tim Iverson, who was in his bathroom when the vehicle struck, walked into his and his wife’s demolished kitchen in the pitch-black before realizing what had happened.
"I heard the previous collisions, then heard the impact as it hit the house," Iverson said. "It sounded like some far-away thing — then I realized it wasn’t."
By about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, the Iversons had called in workers to check for electrical damage and were working to reconnect water in their mangled kitchen.
However, aside from a minor injury to their neighbor’s leg when the wayward car nudged her vehicle into her and a gash on his hand from stumbling over kitchen detritus, Tim Iverson said the situation could have been much worse.
The Iversons, who do mission work in Taiwan, have decided to "lean into" the crash as a spiritual opportunity.
"We see God in all of this," Iverson said. "God never wastes your pain."
"The community, the neighbors have really come out in support," he added. ‘I have loved living in this community, but this really makes me love it."
Iverson said the neighborhood wanted to see a stop sign on the corner of 19th Avenue and Valleyhigh Drive, as residents think many drivers go too fast down the wide street.
Iverson said some of the neighborhood believes the crash was related to a speed-racing incident Monday night. ABC 6 News has reached out to Rochester police to confirm.
(ABC 6 News) – A Faribault man flipped his car into another vehicle and home on Valleyhigh Drive Monday night.
At about 11:09 p.m. Aug. 8, Rochester police responded to a rollover accident with injuries in the 2000 block of Valleyhigh Drive NW.
Capt. Casey Moilanen with the Rochester Police Department said a 28-year-old Faribault man in a 2018 Dodge Charger was driving westbound on the street when he struck a curb, left the roadway, and hit a car parked in the driveway of 1927 Valleyhigh Drive NW.
The man’s car then struck a residence at 2005 Valleyhigh Drive, "causing extensive damage to the house," before it flipped over and came to rest in the driveway and yard of 2009 Valleyhigh Drive.
When officers arrived, the driver of the vehicle had exited the car and was walking around. Officers alleged signs of intoxication and took the man to St. Marys to be medically cleared.
At that time, they also obtained a search warrant for a blood draw to check the man for intoxication. The results are pending, Moilanen said.
A 42-year-old woman who was outside at the time of the crash said her leg was injured when the Charger struck a vehicle, which then struck her leg.
She drove herself to the hospital, according to police reports.