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March 19, 2024

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Couple’s yard crash site twice in six months

Property damaged by pair of suspected intoxicated drivers

By , Columbian Breaking News Reporter
Published:
2 Photos
Terry Mabe
In the early morning hours of Oct. 4, a van crashed into Terry Mabe's yard, sending a Volvo parked outside of her house into her neighbor's fence. It is the second time in less than six months that a suspectedf intoxicated driver has crashed on her property.
Terry Mabe In the early morning hours of Oct. 4, a van crashed into Terry Mabe's yard, sending a Volvo parked outside of her house into her neighbor's fence. It is the second time in less than six months that a suspectedf intoxicated driver has crashed on her property. Photo Gallery

When an alleged drunk driver careened through the chain link fence outside of her house, Terry Mabe was shaken up. But when six months later she awoke to similar crash noises and walked outside to see her yard had again become a crash scene, she was in disbelief.

“I’m still kind of in shock,” she said. “You’d think we lived on a curve, but we don’t.”

Terry and her husband, Curtis Mabe, have lived in their one-story house at 9701 N.E. Burton Road, just east of Northeast 98th Avenue, for 24 years. Until this year, they’ve never had a problem with people damaging their property.

But in the span of less than six months, two allegedly impaired drivers have crashed into Mabe’s yard, causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.

She and her husband awoke to the first loud crunch at about 3 a.m. April 14. A black Ford F-350 truck hit an electrical pole, their neighbor’s fence, the Mabes’ mailbox and their fence, then came to a stop in their driveway.

The alleged driver, Edgar E. Iglesias Garcia, 27, of Vancouver fled but was quickly caught by police.

He faces charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants and hit-and-run.

The damage from that crash was about $1,500, Terry Mabe said.

In the early morning hours of Oct. 4, nearly the same scenario played out again.

At about 4:45 a.m., a van crashed through Mabe’s fence, colliding with a Volvo V70 parked in front of the house. The vehicle, which belongs to the girlfriend of Mabe’s son, was then pushed over onto its side and into a neighbor’s wooden fence.

“It was unreal,” Terry Mabe said. “The first time was bad enough, but the second time, I said, ‘Oh no, not again.’ “

The van’s driver fled, but Vancouver police later caught and arrested a suspect, identified as Marquis E. Epps, 18, of Vancouver. The van was reportedly stolen.

Epps faces charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, possession of a stolen vehicle, driving with a suspended license and hit-and-run.

Damage from the second crash is still being determined, but Mabe said it will be much more substantial. On top of the cost of the totaled car, the crash ruined two rhododendrons and a Lacey Oak tree, worth about $1,000.

“We’ve lost so much, it’s ridiculous for it to keep happening,” Mabe said.

Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said that the crashes appear to be a coincidence.

“I don’t know that there’d be any rhyme or reason to either of these crashes other than they both involved impaired drivers,” she said. “There’s no correlation.”

But the Mabes are worried it may happen again. Terry Mabe said her husband is in the process of looking into having concrete barriers put in.

“I’m scared to death it’s going to happen again and again,” Mabe said.

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Columbian Breaking News Reporter