MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) “It’s not something you see every day: a car upside down over three other vehicles in southern Minneapolis.” However, this is the scene where Tom Taggatz came home on Monday morning.
Overnight, a red two-door Nissan lost control and crashed into three of its vehicles on Block 4200 on Oakland Avenue South. The driver fled on foot and was not found.
“You never expected to live in the middle of the block for that to happen,” Taggatz said.
While enjoying a quiet weekend of ice fishing in the north, Taggatz was unaware of the hustle and bustle in the house.
“It wasn’t a good feeling to know that the pictures that were sent to me from my neighbor in that house telling me, ‘This is your house,'” Taggatz said.
His house is fine, but three of his vehicles are not. They are totaled, along with the red Nissan that hit them. Parts of that car are still scattered on his lawn and right on top of his garage.
The car was believed to be moving so fast that it hit a hill and hit the air before crashing into vehicles on Taggatz Alley.
(credit: Minneapolis Police Department)
“If the vehicles weren’t there, my house is right here, the front living room is right there, I could easily have been injured there,” he said.
The accident occurred at about 2:30 am The driver fled the scene, but neighbors did not call 911 because they did not see the accident. Eydie Campbell, who lives two doors away, said she heard an explosion and thought it was remote construction.
“It simply came to our notice then. It shook the whole house, “Campbell said. “Wow. I mean, if anyone moved away from that, they’d be lucky.”
Taggatz feels the victim in this. He was preparing to sell one of the cars after spending time and money repairing it. The other belonged to his late aunt.
“For something like this to happen now is devastating, because I just don’t understand,” Taggatz said. “I did nothing wrong. Too bad things are happening here and there is no responsibility. It’s like it’s OK and it’s not OK. ”
Minneapolis police say the vehicle was not stolen and is being registered with a man and his son in Blaine. Taggatz is not yet sure if the insurance will help him with his losses.
A GoFundMe account has been created to help Taggatz.