Charges filed after Crash into 2 homes

AUSTIN, Texas - A duplex on Ponciana Dr. was the first home to be hit Tuesday morning.  

A truck left the road shortly after 3:00 a.m. and crashed through cable and phone boxes. Donna Winslow said the sound of the crash made her jump right out of bed. She and her nephew dashed outside and got another surprise.

"First we look out and it was, what? And then we looked and there it was, upside down,” said Winslow.

She saw her nephew's SUV in an unexpected location. It had been parked in the driveway but was now crushed and rolled by the truck.

"All wrecked, he bent the frame, he hit it hard,” said Winslow.

Before the truck sped away, Winslow says it backed into the duplex cracking the outside stone wall and the fireplace.  Mary Goucher recorded video as her husband ran to their neighbor's home. 

"We didn't know what happened, we just seen a vehicle on its side and he ran out to check inside the vehicle to see if somebody was in there hurt and at the same time on the phone calling police, or 911 is what I called,” said Goucher.

A closer call happened moments later a few blocks away. Police say the truck crashed into another house on Stassney Lane. By mid-morning- plywood covered the bedroom where a teenage girl was sleeping at the time the truck broke through the wall. She declined to be interviewed on camera but said she woke up staring at a bumper. The brother of the girl also heard the crash. He went outside, saw the driver of the truck running up this roadway, and gave chase. He caught up with the driver at a nearby convenience store. He held him until police arrived. Winslow praised the effort of the teen and his family.

"Actually we are going to give them a plant or something, because if it had not been for them we would not have known who did it because he tried to run,” said Winslow.

The driver of the truck was identified as 42-year-old Vidal Menjibar. According to court documents he has multiple aliases.  

They include;
Elmer Ramos, Martin Cruz, Martin Ramero and Franco Mornroy.

For making the wild drive through southeast Austin Tuesday morning police filed multiple charges. They range from DWI, to damaging property, to the unlawful carrying of a weapon. All are Misdemeanor Charges.