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Driver Rams Into House, Car; 2 Hurt : Crash: Suspected drunk motorist is arrested after allegedly plowing into living room. Homeowner captures him and ties him up until police arrive.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

A suspected drunk driver who allegedly crashed his van into a house was arrested Sunday after the angry homeowner chased him down and tied him up until police arrived, authorities said.

Two people were injured in the incident.

Margarito Sanchez, 43, of North Hollywood was booked at Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of felony drunken driving, said Los Angeles Police Officer Lee Glozer. Sanchez’s bail was set at $30,000.

Police said Sanchez allegedly rammed his van into a car, injuring one person. Police did not say how seriously the victim was hurt.

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Sanchez then backed up and drove another 200 feet and crashed into a building, police said.

Backing away again, Sanchez then plowed into the living room of a two-bedroom house owned by Manuel Bermudez in the 11500 block of Saticoy Street. Bermudez said his wife, Sara, was injured.

The van’s impact produced a hole in Bermudez’s living room wall about five feet square. Bermudez said his wife was hurt when a couch was knocked into the chair she was sitting in. She later was treated at a clinic for leg and back pain, he said.

Bermudez said his two children and two young guests were also in the living room at the time of the crash, but were not injured.

Police said that after hitting the house, Sanchez bolted from the van and began running west on Saticoy Street. Bermudez gave chase and caught the suspect about 100 yards from his home.

He tackled Sanchez and hauled him back to his home, where, fearing that the driver might escape before police arrived, Bermudez and a friend tied him to a post supporting the front porch, giving him a mild case of rope burn.

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“I didn’t want him to try and escape, and when the police arrived they said it was OK that I tied him up,” Bermudez said.

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