Runaway Bulldozer Destroys Two Homes, Rams Third
No one was driving as it plowed into houses; cops investigating who started it.
Feb. 22, 2011— -- Police in West Odessa, Texas, are trying to figure out what started a runaway bulldozer that plowed through a neighborhood, flattening two mobile homes before it crashed into a house.
Sgt. Gary Duesler of the Ector County Sheriff's Office said officers responded to reports of an unmanned bulldozer ripping through the western Texas neighborhood Saturday night, and when they arrived the bulldozer was lodged in one of the homes.
The construction vehicle travelled nearly a mile, ripping through several barbed wire fences before leveling the two mobile homes and then eventually ramming into the house. No one was hurt in the incident, Duesler said.
Mary Chavez was hosting a birthday party for her grandson in her backyard when she noticed the bulldozer. At first, she said, she wasn't alarmed because many people do construction work on their lots in the neighborhood, but that quickly changed.
"When we saw it, no one suspected it was without a driver until we heard a man yelling, 'Hurry, it doesn't have a driver,'" she said.
At that point, she said, everyone started running towards the front of her house.
The bulldozer was finally stopped and turned off when neighbors chased down the construction vehicle, and one of them, Eleuterio Sanchez, broke a window with a brick, and jumped inside to bring it to a halt.
"I used to work with this type of equipment, so I knew what to do," Sanchez told the Odessa American newspaper.
The bulldozer was being rented by construction company, Southwest Disposal Service, and a manager for the company, who asked to remain anonymous, told ABC News the bulldozer was stolen from their property before it went tearing through the neighborhood.
The bulldozer "was manned when it left our property," he said. "After that, I don't know how long before they jumped off of it, but we have signs that can tell it was manned when it left our property."
The manager said he has been working with the sheriff's office to determine who was responsible.
Duesler said the investigation is ongoing and deputies are trying to determine whether there was foul play involved.
It "could have been a disgruntled employee, could have been kids playing around," he said.
No one was in any of the homes at the time of the incident, the sergeant said.
Nancy Hernandez, who lived in one of the mobile homes, said she was glad she was out when it happened.
"I feel like it was a miracle we weren't there, and if we were, we'd be dead. It's crazy something like that can happen" she told the Odessa American.
Duesler said the displaced families are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.
So far, no arrests have been made.