Apartment Dweller Gets Rude Awakening

Deborah L. Godbe, 31, woke up early Thursday morning to the sounds of a Chevrolet Monte Carlo plowing into her bedroom.

“I told a police officer that my alarm clock sometimes doesn’t work,” Godbe said in an interview in her living room. “But that Monte Carlo sure woke me up.”

The 1977 Chevy crashed into Godbe’s two-bedroom apartment at 1 a.m. after its driver lost control while southbound on Bear Street at high speed, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Cliff McBride. The car then hit the curb in front of the apartment complex at 845 Paularino Ave., knocked down a tree and slammed through the west wall of Godbe’s unit. The driver and a passenger fled on foot, McBride said.

The car hit Godbe’s bedsprings, tossing her into her closet, McBride said. “The whole wall was wiped out, and plaster and other stuff were all over the place.”

Godbe, who works for a computer systems manufacturer, suffered only minor injuries on her ankles and legs. She said she was grateful that her 5-year-old son wasn’t at home.

She first felt a sensation of being pushed along. “I put out my hands so I wouldn’t be hurt,” Godbe said, holding her arms in front of her. “But for some reason, I knew a car had hit me.”

After landing in the closet, Godbe said, she smelled burning rubber. Emerging warily, she found the car in the middle of her bedroom, two feet from her. With the motor still running, the car’s headlights illuminated swirls of plaster dust floating in the air. She peered inside the car and found nobody.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, this is not real,’ ” Godbe said. “Then I smelled the (gasoline fumes), and I thought I was going to suffocate to death because I couldn’t see a way out. I was still shaken up, you know.”

After trying to open the car to turn off the engine, she noticed the gaping hole in her wall. “I just climbed right over the car to get out,” Godbe said. “I didn’t want to stay in there anymore.”

Police found Godbe pacing outside the hole in the wall, waiting for help, McBride said. She was treated for cuts and bruises at Costa Mesa Medical Center Hospital and released.

After patrolling the neighborhood, police officers later arrested Ramon Espinoza Gomez, 23, of Norco and Jose Antonio Huerta, 20, of Costa Mesa on suspicion of felony hit and run, McBride said. The police noticed the two, covered with plaster dust, walking along Baker Street near Babb Street, a few blocks away from the crash scene, McBride said.

Gomez was later released. Huerta, who police said was the driver, was booked on a felony hit-and-run charge and was being held at Costa Mesa City Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, Officer Tom Brashears said.

“Look at this,” Godbe said, picking up a splintered piece of wood near the hole. “That could have been me. The next time I get an apartment, I’m going to have a no parking sign right outside my window.”