“All of a sudden, the entire house — I feel it move, and it throws me back into the wall,” Kelly Cobb said.
Nick and Kelly Cobb were winding down for the night, their children already in bed and asleep, when a drunk driver veered off the road. That Mercedes crashed into their older, single section manufactured home.
Nick had just stepped outside when he could hear squealing tires and then had just enough time to get out of the way when the car sped through a series of small trees and crashed right into the house and their six-month-old son’s room, Cobb told the Chinook Observer.
Without wasting time, Nick ran inside to check on his family.
Miraculously his son had slept through the crash – even as the dresser was forced into the crib and the television on top of it had catapulted right over him.
Both children, six-month-old Grayson and 5-year-old Candice were safe, and Kelly Cobb only had a minor injury, according to the Observer.
Once he knew his family was okay, Nick said he went back outside to assess the situation – and the damage to the home.
“Had the vehicle not turned sideways, it would have driven through the home and would have likely struck an infant’s bedroom, with a five-month-old sleeping in his crib,” Deputy Sean Eastham wrote in his report. The vehicle was going about 80 in a 45 mile per hour zone.
The Driver was Gone
The driver of the vehicle had already left the scene by the time Nick Cobb was back outside to find him. A witness claimed that the driver attempted to ask them not to call the police and eventually fled the scene on foot.
“He just kind of threw his arms up,” Cobb said. “I asked him what was wrong, and he said, ‘The driver is gone.’”
The Mercedes that crashed into the Cobb’s manufactured home was reported stolen that same evening by owner Ivan Dwain Roane, 45, of Ocean Park. After the initial police report Roane didn’t answer any phone calls and left his residence – not to be seen again for more than a month after the hit-and-run.
“One of the residents noticed this guy living out of a little camper-type trailer on a piece of property up in his area,” Modoc Undersheriff Tex Dowdy said on March 13. “He hadn’t seen the guy around much, and requested that we go up and do a welfare check.”
The man living out in that “camper-type trailer” fit the description of Roane, and after some investigation Madoc Police determined that it was indeed him. It was with a multi-state warrant, which was issued after a month of looking for him, that Madoc County Sheriff’s Office finally showed up to arrest Roane on charges of hit-and-run, false reporting and tampering with a witness, per Chinook Observer.
While authorities finally caught the guy who destroyed the Cobb’s home, the family is still homeless and staying with Nick’s parents until they are able to find a new place to live that they can afford.
“We had it good here,” Nick Cobb said. “Anywhere else that we can find, rent is gonna be a bit more. And there’s nothing available.”
An upcoming article on MHProNews will look at how renters are being priced out of the market, as prices rise while wages remain low for many professions. This is yet another example of the shortage of affordable housing, and how manufactured homes, like the one the Cobb’s lived in, are a solution for millions to the current supply and demand predicament.
Guilty Plea
Since being arrested Roane has taken a plea-deal, agreeing to what is called an “Alford plea”, which is an arrangement where the defendant pleads guilty, but does not actually admit any guilt. This often results in lesser charges being filed or lighter sentencing – and is often the route taken when someone knows they will be convicted if the case goes to trial.
“I agree I should pay my sentence,” Roane said. “… With a clear conscience, I would like to have it on the record that I did not tamper.”
On July 7 the Cobb family was unable to attend court, so official sentencing will be on July 21. In explaining why he took the plea, Roane says that he wants to take responsibility for his crimes – but also wants to make it clear that he did not tamper with any witnesses.
Roane will likely be sentenced to spend 30 days in jail, and pay a $1,500 fine. He will also spend 60 months on probation once he is released from jail, and will lose his driver’s license for a period of three months to one year.
Not the First Such Incident, Even This Year
Oddly, this isn’t the first case, even this year, of a car crashing into a manufactured home.
Regular readers of the Daily Business News might remember back in May we reported on the story of a 19-year-old who lost control of his vehicle and crashed his car into a manufactured home.
Go back a few more months to January and we brought you the story of an elderly man who might have passed out at the wheel and ended up in the backside of a manufactured home. # #
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