Rude awakening

Only on a Monday morning would a man swerve his pickup to successfully avoid colliding with another vehicle only to end up parked halfway in some stranger's garage - after crashing through a garage wall.

John Swift said the accident at 30th Street and Clearmont Avenue happened when he had to swerve to avoid another vehicle that ran a stop sign. While Swift missed the other car, he crashed the Chevrolet Silverado pickup he was driving into a brick house on the corner.

Swift, who is retired, lives just two blocks west of the scene on Clearmont.

The other driver just kept going, Swift said.

Cpl. Dayton Neff responded to the unusual scene and confirmed Swift's story.

Swift was issued a traffic citation for losing control of the car, Neff said.

Patrick Baxter was taking a shower when the accident happened at about 7:50 a.m. Monday morning. His hair was still wet as he surveyed the damage standing outside in the front yard looking at the new hole.

"It sounded like the house was falling down," Baxter said. "I didn't know what it was."

No one was injured, but both the house and the pickup sustained a substantial amount of damage.

The owner of the house, 29-yar-old Chad Webster, said he bought the house a week ago - his first foray as a homeowner.

Webster was at work when the accident happened, but his roommate, Baxter, called him when he realized what was going on.

Baxter walked around, looked in his garage and sighed, "Monday, Monday," singing the chorus to a Mamas and Papas song.

After waiting around all day, Webster finally switched shifts with Baxter Monday afternoon so he could go to work.

Webster said he still doesn't know what the cost of the damage will be. They're waiting for the insurance adjusters to check it out.

"It would have been a lot different if this had happened inside the house, but it was just the garage," Webster said.