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Family thankful after car hits home
By John J. Hopkins Times
With Thanksgiving one week away, Yvonne and Martin Mazurkiewicz are already counting their blessings, thankful that their family was not hurt after a speeding stolen vehicle slammed into their Claude Drive home on November 10.
One suspect is in police custody and a second is wanted following a bizarre set of events that led to the collision.
Yvonne Mazurkiewicz was busy clearing storm debris from the yard last Friday morning and had just deposited a bag of branches in the corner of the car port.
She was expecting her 13-year-old daughter Katelyn to join her in a few minutes when she heard in the distance an engine revving loudly, and getting closer.
Mazurkiewicz stepped into the driveway and looked down Claude toward Dingens Street, where she saw a navy blue sport utility vehicle speeding up the street.
At first, Yvonne became mad, thinking a teenager was out on a joyride.
"This is a residential street, it's Veteran's Day and children are home from school," Mazurkiewicz remembers thinking.
As the SUV neared her home and began to fishtail, Yvonne's anger turned into fear, realizing that the out-of-control vehicle, now skidding sideways, was heading toward her.
Yvonne remembers running backward up the driveway and taking cover in the corner of the carport. She turned in time to see the truck slam into the front of the house, rocking the structure with such force that the frame moved almost half an inch.
"It sounded like an explosion," Mazurkiewicz, 38, said.
Dirt from the flower bed flew into the car port and the living room. The glass front storm door shattered, and the front door to the house popped open on impact. A gaping hole in the wall replaced a picture window. On the other side of the wall, a love seat flew across the living room.
"Had I not turned off the television, I know my daughters would have been killed," Mazurkiewicz said.
Instead, Katelyn was grabbing clothes from a hamper in her parents' bedroom, and her 9-year-old sister Megan was at the other end of the house playing on a computer.
The driver, who has not been caught although police believe they know who he is, ran from the vehicle. Neighbors from all directions came running.
"My kids are in the house," Yvonne screamed. As she neared the side door, Megan and Katelyn appeared. As they hugged, shaking and their hearts pounding, they kept asking each other if they were okay.
"The first thing I said to them was 'I don't care if this house crumbles to the ground. As long as we have each other, that's all I care about,'" Mazurkiewicz said.
Yvonne then telephoned her husband. The phone was still mounted to the kitchen wall, but the receiver was dangling by its cord.
Martin Mazurkiewicz said he caught "bits and pieces" of his wife's hysterical call.
"I heard 'hit,' 'me,' 'truck,' 'living room," Martin, 41, said. "I drove home thinking the worst."
Minutes before the crash, the owner of Louie's Texas Hots on Harlem Road in West Seneca happened to look outside his restaurant window, where he noticed an unidentified man driving his 2002 Chevy Avalanche, to which his trailer with an all-terrain-vehicle was attached- out of the parking lot. He called police to report the theft.
A West Seneca police officer spotted the stolen vehicle- without the trailer and ATV- in the parking lot of a Holiday Inn on Dingens Street. As the officer entered the parking lot, the thief drove down an embankment and sped up Claude.
Meanwhile, Cheektowaga Police Officer Ronald Wood observed the trailer and ATV attached to a pickup truck, operated by John E. Covell, 34, of Buffalo.
Covell was arrested and charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Information gathered by police indicates that Covell dropped off the suspect at the West Seneca restaurant. Police believe that the two later met to transfer the trailer from the stolen SUV to Covell's pickup.
"We think (the wanted suspect) pulled out of the parking lot with everything and drove down the block where they changed some stuff around," said Cheektowaga Police Captain John Glascott.
A building inspector told the Mazurkiewiczes that the three-brickhigh landscaping facade in front of the house saved the foundation from damage.
Still, every room has some damage. A large chunk of plaster still hangs from a wall in the master bedroom. Circle-shaped stickers, visible in every room, mark the damage. The family still finds pieces of broken glass.
"I opened the kitchen cupboards, and all of the plates slid out," Yvonne said.
The family had to stay in a hotel for a few days, but the building has been deemed safe for living. The family plans to begin repairs soon and hopes to have the front wall completed by mid-December.
While police continue their investigation, the Mazurkiewicz family has gained comfort from the knowledge that they have great neighbors who look out for each other.
Neighbors continue to ask how the family is doing, and others stop by to bring food.
"You really don't realize how many friends you have until a situation like this arises," said Martin. "We can't thank everyone enough."
A landscaping floodlight embedded in the bricks of the home serves as a telltale sign of the violent impact.
It wasn't until Martin arrived that the Mazurkiewiczes realized that the mailbox and post on which it sat atop had flown into a wooden fence right next to where Yvonne had sought shelter. The post shattered into three pieces.
"I had a guardian angel that day," Yvonne said. "For me not to get hit with anything and to have my daughters in the far end of the house...it's amazing."
Noting that three family members have passed away, Martin said there were three guardian angels watching over his family.
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