LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Police are investigating a crash that sent a car barreling through a home, marking the latest accident at a Lakewood intersection. A couple who have lived at the corner of West 15th Place and Youngfield Drive for five years said this was the worst crash they've witnessed yet.
On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 24, Jonna Helm and Pablo Mitjans were relaxing on their backyard patio when they heard a loud bang around 9 p.m.
“It was scary. It sounded like a bomb went off, to be quite truthful,” said Mitjans.
When they walked to the front of their house, they were shocked to find a car had plowed through their bathroom. The vehicle had been traveling southbound on Youngfield Drive, a road with a blind curve, when it veered off course and sped up their steep driveway, sending their own car, which was parked in the garage, crashing through the bathroom wall.
According to Lakewood police, the 250-foot skid marks left by the car indicate the driver was traveling well over the speed limit.
Car crashes to home in Lakewood
“There you have a steep grade, and our driveway is even steeper… Never thought they would be going that fast to be able to crash through my garage,” said Helm.
The speed limit around the curve is 25 mph, and the area is filled with flashing signs, radar feedback, and warnings for drivers to slow down. Despite these safety measures, Helm and Mitjans say drivers consistently ignore them.
Lakewood police report that there have been three crashes at this intersection so far this year. In one instance, a car traveling 90 mph collided with a motorcycle.
“Same situation, same area where you see these skid marks, came head-on with the motorcyclists injuring them severely,” Helm said.
In another case, a car missed the turn at the blind curve and collided head-on with a power pole.
Police say this intersection has not been added to the city’s list of high-crash areas due to the relatively low number of accidents over the years.
But Helm and Mitjans are far from reassured, as 2024 has seen the highest number of accidents yet.
"When we see accidents, they're not just a little fender bender. These are serious accidents... Just to think we could've been killed in our house is just, it's unfathomable… It can't happen again,” Helm said.
The city has plans to improve safety at the intersection with the addition of a curb, gutter, and retaining wall, but these improvements are contingent on a new development in the neighborhood that is still in the early planning stages. The couple and their neighbors have expressed opposition to the development, arguing that it would only bring more traffic, and in turn, more crashes to the area.