Car Becomes Battering Ram In Two Cda Neighborhoods Police Say Drunken Driver Slammed Auto Into House, Mailbox And Trees

A Sagle man slammed his car into a house, smashed a mailbox and clobbered trees in two Coeur d’Alene neighborhoods during a drunken driving spree early Tuesday that landed him in jail, police reports said.

Jeffrey T. Ward, 20, was arrested on four charges, including drunken driving and battery, a jail deputy said. Accident reports show Ward’s blood alcohol level was 0.13 percent when he was arrested.

The spree began in the 2400 block of Sixth Street. According to police reports, Ward was driving his 1981 Subaru GL south from Randle Avenue when it jumped a curb, drove across a lawn and hit a house. Ward then backed the car into a tree and sped away through a flower bed, the report said.

A block east on Seventh Street, Ward reportedly crushed a mailbox that had been fixed to a metal pole in front of a church.

Police arrested Ward several blocks away after he drove through another yard and crashed his car into a tree, the report said.

Residents in the 2100 block of 11th jumped Ward, who suffered minor injuries, and held him until police arrived. One man told police Ward bit him on the wrist when he took the keys out of his car.

Damage to the house, trees and mailbox was estimated at more than $20,000.

, DataTimes