Deputy crashes car through Buena Vista home, teenager hurt

By Candice Nelson
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: December 27, 2008

Buena Vista Police are investigating tonight after a Rockbridge County Deputy crashed his cruiser through a home.  It happened around 9:30 p.m. Friday on Magnolia Avenue in Buena Vista.

Police say Deputy Troy Wimer was on his way to a call on Mount Atlas Road when he lost control and hit the house. Relatives say a 15-year-old girl, Olivia Williams, was taken to the hospital for cuts and was released early Saturday morning.  Neighbors and relatives say Olivia and her mother live in the home. The relative tells Ten On Your side they can’t live in the home now, but they do have a place to stay with family.

At the scene, you can see a broken sink, plumbing pipes, and a shattered mirror – what’s left of the bathroom after the deputy ran into it. That’s where Olivia was at the time of the crash.

“He went in the home pretty deep. The house was caved in over his car,” said Mike Wright who saw the crash.

Zeb Pence saw it happen and ran to help.

“It’s amazing in a wreck like that, hitting a side of a home. And a girl being in that shower in the room it hits, [it’s amazing] that she’s alive. Oh, it could have been much worse,” said Pence.

Police say the impact threw her into the living room. Now a tarp blocks some of the damage.

So far, no charges have been filed against the deputy.

Pence says, whether Wimer is at fault or not, hopefully there’s still a lesson to be learned after Wimer lost control.

Possibly next time, officers could ask themselves, “’What’s safe and what’s not safe. When am I doing my job and when am I putting other people in harm’s way.’ And being an officer has gotta be hard,” said Pence.

But thankfully after this crash everybody walked away.

The Buena Vista Police will turn the case over to the Commonwealth’s Attorney who will decide whether to press charges against Deputy Wimer.