SAN ANTONIO – Family members of a woman who was trapped in the kitchen of her Northwest Side apartment after a pickup crashed into it said they found out about the incident through a disturbing phone call.
They said the woman called them around 12:30 a.m. Thursday from a cellphone she always carries with her.
“She was screaming on the phone, saying that she was pinned between the oven and a truck and to come and hurry,” said Marie Nichols, one of her daughters.
The truck belonged to a man who was in a parking lot at a gas station in the 8100 block of Callaghan Road.
He told San Antonio police that he somehow hit the gas pedal instead of the break, and that launched his truck off a hill into the apartment building below.
The truck broke through a wrought iron fence, clipped a tree, obliterated a wooden privacy and smashed through a brick wall.
Nichols and her sister, Michelle Elizondo, rushed over to their mother’s home to help, along with about a half dozen other family members and friends.
They found police and firefighters already there in the 8100 block of Callaghan Road working to free the woman.
“Thank God she is OK and that she was able to literally walk out,” Elizondo said.
The sisters said their mother suffered a cracked rib. Both she and the driver of the pickup were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Police said they planned to test the driver for possible intoxication.
As the victim’s family sorted through the debris, trying to collect her valuables, they said they found a pile of empty beer cans and several cans of PediaSure, a nutritional drink usually given to young children.
They said the cans came from the man’s truck and insisted the victim doesn’t drink alcohol.
One thing her loved ones so far have not located is the woman’s dog, a light brown chihuahua named Sammy.
They said they believe the pet ran off and is not trapped in the ruins.
“We’re looking real hard for him, and hopefully she can come back to her puppy,” Elizondo said.
The sisters said they’d like to bring their mother a bit of happiness in the middle of the horrible situation.