Woman says a vehicle crashed through her wall, hitting her bed while she was sleeping

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Imagine being sound asleep, only to have a truck come crashing into your bedroom. It happened at a home just outside Westlake this past weekend.

In less than a week, two vehicles flew off the curve at Hollis and Westwood and onto the property of Kevin and Tammy Pickhard.

The first incident began as a hit-and-run. The Pickards said a driver crashed into their yard and then crashed through their gate to try to get away. The escape attempt was unsuccessful.

Then Saturday night, Tammy was sound asleep when a truck crashed through the wall actually hitting her bed while she was in it.

“I was shaking - I guess in shock. I went to the bedroom, and I did not realize that the vehicle had hit me,” Tammy said. “I was in the bed, and it cracked the headboard and shoved the bed out of the way.”

Tammy’s husband, Kevin, said he’s tried repeatedly to get something done to protect his home and family.

“I went as far as to put guard rails up because they went clean through my garage one year, and I’ve been asking people to help me,” Kevin said.

There is signage and a caution flasher at the curve but...

“Lights and signs, I’m like, that’s not stopping these people,” Kevin said.

Plus, westbound vehicles often seem to cross the center line as they negotiate the curve from Westwood to Hollis Road. Kevin thinks a roundabout might help or at least slow people down.

“We’re not safe in our house no more,” Kevin said.

“Who wants to stay in a house where you’re thinking, ‘If I go to bed, is this going to be it?’” Tammy said.

She is traumatized but grateful to be alive.

“Praise Jesus, that’s what I said. That’s all I kept saying when I walked back in that room because I had no clue that that’s what happened,” Tammy said. “I walked back in the room and I was like, ‘Thank you, God. Thank you, God.’ That’s all I kept saying is, ‘Thank you, God.’”

A spokesman said, “The Police Jury is aware of the recent accident at Hollis and Westwood Roads in Westlake. The Police Jury will review the facts of the incident, as the Police Jury typically does.”