Cheyenne residents Bill Lembke and Susie Degner are rebuilding their home after a truck crashed into it during a freak accident, leaving a huge hole in the side of the house and the couple with at least $30,000 in damage.
The couple live right off Central Avenue in Cheyenne, one of the busiest streets in the community. Now, Lembke considers the experience an “unnecessary inconvenience.” At the time, the crash was a bit more dramatic.
How It Happened
It started Oct. 11, when a pickup hopped the curb and smashed into their central Cheyenne house, knocking out a sizable portion of their brick wall and leaving a gaping hole into their living room right around the fireplace.
The Toyota Tundra had crashed into their home after it was hit by another vehicle, spinning and rolling over three times before crashing into their brick wall and chimney .
Lembke and Degner were still at work when the event happened and were alerted to it by a neighbor. Another neighbor said they felt their own house shake when the impact happened.
“Thank God we had a brick house, because if it had been wood, it would have been inside our house,” Degner said.
The truck bounced off the house and was left completely trashed and mangled, with one of its wheels completely knocked off.
Degner said the scene looked like a tornado had swept through their yard.
Lembke said their home became a bit of a neighborhood attraction afterward, with more than a few looky-loos pulling over to gape and talk with them about the carnage.
A confused post lady even asked Lembke why they cut down their tree, which he quickly answered by pointing at the hole in the fireplace.
“She said, ‘Oh my god,’” he said.
Video captured of the event and bystanders who said they saw it live proved that the truck first hit a tree in Lembke and Degner’s yard, which caused it to slingshot into their home. By the time the crash was finally over, the truck was on its side facing the opposite direction of traffic on one-way Central Avenue.
The driver of the truck, Cheyenne resident Jon Kinsolving, miraculously walked away from the crash a little dazed having only suffered small scratches on his arm and back.
Bystanders told Lembke they couldn’t believe Kinsolving had survived the crash.
When the couple arrived at their home, a crowd of emergency responders were already at the scene. Although their cat Joey usually spends time in the living room near the wall, the couple was relieved to find the feline was unscathed.
About a week after the crash, another part of the exterior brick wall collapsed during the middle of the night.
“What the hell happened?” Lembke said he wondered, before discovering the cavity in his house had grown.
Around 15 minutes later, another section fell down and into the road.
Assessing The Damage
Lembke estimates they suffered at least $30,000 in damage to their home. Many of the bricks that fell off the wall were damaged in the accident, which is leading the couple to consider replacing the wall with stone instead.
Lembke and Degner are hoping and praying the foundation wasn’t damaged, which would cause the repair cost to skyrocket even more.
Not only was there damage caused to their house, but the tree that the truck slammed into, which they planted when they first moved into the home in 2005, was also completely uprooted.
While the truck was careening through the yard, it also hit the branch of a crabapple tree, which fell off and caused about $6,000 worth of damage to one of their vehicles.
The crabapples were splattered all over the car, making it look like it had just gone through a paintball game, he said.
A metal swing was also completely demolished in the accident. This was possibly a blessing in disguise, as Degner said she had been asking her husband if they could get rid of the toy.
“Now, she got her wish because it’s gone,” Lembke said.
They’re also losing money having to take time off from work to work with insurance companies and other inspectors on the cleanup.
Susie Degner and Bill Lembke, and their cat Joey, hang out in their living room that was breached by a car last month. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily) 
A truck struck the outside chimney off Bill Lembke's house in Cheyenne, leaving a massive hole where the inside fireplace is located. (Leo Wolfson, Cowboy State Daily) 
At least $30,000 in damage was caused when a truck plowed into the side of Bill Lembke's house in Cheyenne. (Courtesy Bill Lembke) 
At least $30,000 in damage was caused when a truck plowed into the side of Bill Lembke's house in Cheyenne. (Courtesy Bill Lembke) 
At least $30,000 in damage was caused when a truck plowed into the side of Bill Lembke's house in Cheyenne. (Courtesy Bill Lembke) 
At least $30,000 in damage was caused when a truck plowed into the side of Bill Lembke's house in Cheyenne. (Courtesy Bill Lembke)
Lost The Birdhouse, Too
One of the smallest and saddest pieces of damage to the home was to a small birdhouse that been located on the outside of the chimney, which fell down in the second collapse.
The birdhouse had been there when they moved in, and through Facebook they discovered it had been there since a previous resident put it up as a child in the 1970s.
“The birds loved it,” Lembke said.
The couple is also considering putting up a block wall to prevent future events like this from happening again.
The loss of the tree wasn’t heartbreaking for Degner, who wasn’t a big fan of the berries it unleashed on their yard each spring.
Degner is taking a glass half-full approach to the event, seeing it as an opportunity to renovate the home. Lembke isn’t so optimistic, calling it “a giant pain in the ass.”
The couple was already getting their yard landscaped when the crash happened, which has completely come to a halt.
“Within a matter of a month and a half we went from a fairly decent house to hillbilly deluxe out here,” Lembke said. “We’ve really fallen down the ladder in the neighborhood here.”
Vehicles crashing into buildings is uncommon, but not necessarily a rare, and Lembke said he knows of a few other instances of it happening around Wyoming.
Luckily, this was the first time this kind of event had happened to their home. An house that kept getting hit by vehicles at a T-intersection in Casper was torn down and will not be rebuilt. It wasn’t occupied because it had been hit at least three times by vehicles, the last time an SUV that ended up in the living room.
Misery Loves Company
Lembke said he and Kinsolving, the driver of the truck, have built a bit of a bond over what happened.
The man who caused the crash immediately left the scene but was later arrested on an unrelated offense.
Lembke said the damage from the incident is being covered by Kinsolving’s insurance, while Kinsolving’s damage is being covered by the man who caused the accident.
“Me and the guy in the truck, we’re literally innocent victims of this whole thing,” Lembke said.
The event will cause all of their insurance rates to increase. Lembke worries how bad his insurance rates will go up again if another unforeseen event like a hailstorm and he needs a new roof.
“My God, I’m going to have to get a second job just to pay my homeowners insurance,” Lembke said.
Lembke said he’s noticed more quirky crashes happening elsewhere and worries that “the whole world is going nuts.” He mentioned how his daughter was hit while driving by two vehicles in a short span of time some years back.
Degner said having a truck crash into her house also proves how bad speeding has become on Central Avenue, and Lembke said he tells his friends to park their vehicles outside their home if they don’t like them.
“Because it will get hit,” he said.
His trash can, trailer and truck have all been victims of reckless drivers.
The long and straight road is a frequent victim to drag racers speeding well over the speed limit who seem unconcerned about getting pulled over by the police.
“The cops do not patrol this area at all,” Lembke said. “They could make a guy’s yearly wage by sitting out here. What’s it going to take? Is someone going to have to die here to get some more patrol?”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
