NC student, 16, fighting for his life

Dean Houim stopped counting hours Monday.

His son, 16-year-old Scott Houim, remains in critical condition with a broken neck at Deaconess Medical Center. He was injured, police say, when his friend crashed a stolen car Sunday morning into a house where Nebraska Avenue ends at Ash Street.

Scott Houim should be practicing with the North Central High School football team. He also plays baseball and finished in second place at four straight Hoopfests.

Scott is now fighting for his life in a doctor-induced coma with a breathing tube stuck down his throat, Dean Houim said.

“It was really tense, really nerve-wracking,” Houim said of learning his son had been injured. “It’s one of a parent’s worst nightmares to get a 3 a.m.-in-the-morning call.”

Scott’s friend, Kyle A. Tritle, 16, is expected to have a new hearing set today in Spokane County Juvenile Court. Tritle faces felony charges of car theft, vehicular assault and eluding a police officer, Washington State Patrol Trooper Brad Hudson said.

The incident began when someone took the keys out of 16-year-old Breanne Beecher’s purse at a party on the 200 block of West Nebraska. Hudson said that both boys left that party in Breanne’s 1993 Acura.

A state trooper was driving on Division when she saw an Acura make a wide turn onto Division from Queen Avenue. The trooper decided to pull the car over. The Acura initially slowed down, but then turned left onto Nebraska and accelerated to speeds estimated at 50 to 60 mph, Hudson said.

The Acura ran two or three stop signs and approached where Nebraska ends at Ash.

“It doesn’t go through, but he did,” Hudson said.

The car smashed into a house. Neither boy was wearing a seatbelt, Hudson said. It appeared Scott Houim’s head actually hit the house, he said. Tritle walked away with a wrist injury.

“It’s believed (alcohol) was involved,” Hudson said. “We drew blood, but it usually takes about a month to get those tests back.”

Breanne Beecher has known Houim and Tritle since seventh grade. She said she was at the party and had decided to leave when she discovered her keys missing from her purse. She didn’t know the car was missing until she walked outside. “I freaked out,” she said.

Breanne’s mother, Gina Beecher, arrived to pick up her daughter when they learned the fate of the car. “Kyle called after he hit the house. He called the house we were at,” Breanne said.

The mother and daughter drove to the house and saw their Acura was smashed into the home.

“It was only five blocks from our house,” Gina Beecher said.

Scott had already been transported but they watched officers lead Kyle away in handcuffs.

“There were no skid marks, nothing. I guess he just panicked,” Gina Beecher said of Kyle Tritle. “I don’t know what his thinking was. I think he thought it was a through street.”

Beecher was thankful her daughter wasn’t in the car.

“I feel so terrible for (Scott’s) family. I can’t imagine what they are going through,” Beecher said. “It’s a terrible way to show the kids how dangerous drinking is.”

Dean Houim has spent most of the past three days with his son, who continues to improve.

“I quit counting hours” on Monday, Houim said.

“He’s not paralyzed. Every day is a little better than the day before. It will be a long, uphill battle.”

The father invited many of Scott’s friends and teammates to visit him in the hospital.

“It’s an unfortunate situation. It’s two good kids who should have had better judgment,” Houim said. “That’s why I wanted all of his football team members and friends to come see Scott, so maybe they will think twice.

“So something good can come out of something bad.”