Sleepy Man Crashes Car into RB Home; 5 Children Escape

A 75-year-old Rancho Bernardo man, sleepy after spending all night at Barona Casino, narrowly missed five children when he apparently fell asleep and crashed his car into a Westwood home Saturday morning. 

Alcohol is not a factor in the crash and no one in the home was injured, police said.

The children, ranging in age from 1 to 8, had just moved from the living room to the kitchen when the car rammed through the living room around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, sending a 58-inch plasma 3D TV crashing to the floor.

"All I know is I say thanks to God because nobody got hurt," said Gabriel Palma, who suffered minor injuries but refused medical treatment after his white Honda CRV crashed into the home at 11483 Matinal Cir. in Rancho Bernardo.

Palma was heading north on West Bernardo Drive past the Westwood Club when he fell asleep or passed out, sending southbound drivers swerving as he crossed over into their lanes and up onto the sidewalk, police said. Faint tire tracks could be seen along the sidewalk into the grass and through shrubbery where Palma's car went airborne before crashing into the home and its fence.

It's not yet clear how fast Palma was driving, but one driver said she was going 45 mph and Palma passed her, San Diego police Officer Steve Waldheim said, adding that Palma would not be arrested because it was an accident.

The crash left a gaping hole in the home's living room, "sucking out" a toy box in a corner that the playing children had been near at the time of the crash, said Judy DuPont, who rents the home with her husband, Tim, her daughter and her children.

DuPont said an individual was demonstrating CUTCO knives and a pair of scissors in the kitchen, adjacent to the living room, when she called her five grandchildren in to see the person cut through a penny with the scissors. Moments later, dust filled the home and the children began to cry as the car barged into the home, DuPont said.

"Is that not the grace of God?" DuPont said, adding that neighbors quickly came over to help the children get out of the home, and get Palma out of his car. Just two months ago, a tree had been removed along the path where Palma's car careened toward the home, she said.

DVDs, toys and the large TV—which Tim DuPont wistfully said he bought only one year ago to watch the Super Bowl—were strewn across the now-dusty living room. The home has been yellow tagged, meaning it is not safe to live in but can be entered on a limited basis. This leaves the DuPonts without a place to stay until the home is fixed which could take weeks. The full extent of the damage has not been determined.

The destroyed wall is a structural load-bearing wall, though it does not appear that the roof is in danger of collapsing, said Mehdi Shadyab, senior structural engineer for the city of San Diego.

Judy DuPont said she was not sure the family would stay that night—or where they would hold a birthday party for her grandson who turns 2 on Sunday—but they would figure something out. DuPont said they may stay in a hotel or contact their insurance company to see what can be done.

The family had just moved in in July, she said.

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