Neighbors answer call after alleged impaired driver crashes into Spokane home, sparking fire

When Krista Murphy parked her car late Wednesday night outside her northeast Spokane home, she noticed a car driving toward her block.

But something was off. The driver was speeding and appeared to have no intention of stopping, she said.

The driver, later identified as 24-year-old Cody J. Johnson, then drove over a curb, through a large grassy yard and slammed into the side of Murphy’s next-door neighbor’s home, where 80-year-old Lynne Hubbard was sleeping in her bedroom on the other side of the house.

Flames shot up the side of the home, and neighbors, including Murphy, soon started pounding on the door and yelling Hubbard’s name to try and get her out.

Eventually, a neighbor broke through the front door and guided Hubbard outside.

Meanwhile, Murphy said she contacted the panicked, apologetic driver, who told her he was going to leave. Murphy grabbed onto Johnson’s sweatshirt with one hand, telling him he was not going anywhere, and talked to police on the phone with the other hand until officers arrived and arrested him.

Johnson was booked into jail on suspicion of DUI, reckless driving and hit-and-run, according to Spokane police Officer Daniel Strassenberg. He has since been released from jail, according to the Spokane County Jail roster.

It was a chaotic weekday night on the corner of Courtland Avenue and Perry Street, highlighted by caring neighbors and first responders who went above and beyond their job scope, according to Bemiss Neighborhood residents.

“I’ve got absolute wonderful neighbors,” said Hubbard, who’s lived at the home for 56 years. “They all take care of me because I’m like the neighborhood grandma.”

Hubbard is dealing with the aftermath of the crash and fire.

A portion of one side of her home was burned. Plywood covers a hole in her concrete foundation and her side door.

Firefighters discovered the vehicle damaged the home’s natural gas meter, the Spokane Fire Department said in a news release. The system was equipped with an excess flow valve that automatically shut off the gas supply, helping prevent the fire from worsening.

As of Thursday afternoon, Hubbard was still without natural gas to her home, so the inside of her house was cold.

“I’m just kind of camped out in my bedroom with a little space heater,” she said.

Avista Utilities responded to repair the damaged gas line and valve, the fire department said. But Drew Rhimer, Hubbard’s son, said other workers still needed to come to the house, where Rhimer grew up, to make sure there were no more gas leaks.

Hubbard said firefighters also cut a hole in the ceiling of the house during firefighting efforts and pieces of her concrete foundation were scattered in the basement from the crash.

The fire department said a rescue team assessed the structure and deemed it would not collapse.

Hubbard said she is unsure what repairs her home insurance will cover.

Rhimer and his son, Oran Rhimer, were working Thursday to repair the front door the neighbor broke through. Drew Rhimer said he appreciated his neighbors’ efforts.

Hubbard said the crash and fire are a hardship she doesn’t need at her age. Her son, neighbors and a friend offered her to stay at their house, but she likes her longtime home.

“It’s such an imposition on people,” she said.

Drew Rhimer called the fallout of the crash and fire “a major inconvenience, especially this time of year,” noting his mother is trying to stay warm in her bedroom.

Firefighters were dispatched to the crash and fire at 10:22 p.m. and arrived within four minutes.

Hubbard said she was sleeping in her bedroom when she awoke to the car crashing into the side of her home. She did not know that was the noise at the time. She said she thought something possibly fell off her roof.

“I got up and I looked out the window and I saw a car there,” Hubbard said. “And then I panicked and I ran and got my phone and called 911.”

She said she heard pounding on her door but no voices, so she thought it was the driver trying to get into her house. It turned out to be her neighbors.

“I was afraid they were the people from the car, and I wasn’t opening my door for anybody,” she said. “I’m a widow and 80 years old and I don’t need this.”

Her neighbors hustled Hubbard, who was in her pajamas and slippers, across the street to their house, where she watched the flames and the large response from police and fire.

Mike Hoover, who lives across the street from Hubbard with his wife, Sue, was the one who busted through the front door.

The couple was in bed when Sue Hoover said she heard a “bang” and a car noise.

“We took off outside and we saw flames shootin’ up, and I just took off over there and knocked in the door,” Mike Hoover said.

He said his body was sore Thursday after he slammed into the front door three times before he gained access.

“But, I was like, ‘Hey, whatever it takes,’ ” he said.

Murphy, a home health services liaison at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, estimated Johnson hit the side of the house at 30 to 40 mph.

After Murphy witnessed the silver Audi smash into the house, she ran over to help and saw Johnson jump out of the car.

“Immediately, the side of the house went up in flames,” she said.

Murphy said she asked the driver if he was OK. He was “freaking out” and remorseful as he repeatedly apologized, she said.

She said Johnson tried to get back into the car and back away from the house, but Murphy told him to get out of the car because she was worried about the flames next to them and a potential explosion.

Murphy said she then called 911 and started pounding on the doors with other neighbors to get Hubbard, who Murphy and the Hoover’s call “Missy,” out of the home.

Once Hubbard was safe, Murphy returned to the car and found Johnson collecting speakers and other items from his car. He repeatedly told Murphy he was sorry but had to leave, Murphy said.

“He went to go, and I grabbed him by his hood (of his sweatshirt), and I’m like, ‘You’re not going anywhere,’ ” Murphy said. “I was like, ‘You’re gonna own your stuff right now.’ ”

She recalled seeing a look of panic on his face, and she held onto him until police arrived.

Murphy said she never felt threatened by Johnson and that he seemed like a good person.

“He was this scared, young kid that just needed help,” she said.

Murphy said the situation could have been much worse, especially if she had not pulled up to her house when she did.

No one needed to be taken to the hospital, according to the fire department.

“I was just so glad that everybody was OK,” Murphy said.

Hubbard, Murphy and the Hoovers credited first responders and Avista for their professionalism, kindness and compassion.

“I can’t say enough nice words about them,” Hubbard said.