Bellingham homeowner injured, dogs sent flying when suspected DUI driver crashes into home

A Bellingham homeowner was injured and two dogs sent flying when a suspected DUI driver crashed his car into a Cordata neighborhood home.

The Bellingham Police Department booked Roberto Guadalupe Rangel, 30, into Whatcom County Jail Tuesday evening, July 12, on suspicion of DUI and reckless endangerment. Jail records show Rangel was released on $1,000 bail Wednesday.

Officers were called at 6:39 p.m. Tuesday to the 700 block of Springside Lane for the report of a vehicle colliding with a house, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.

Police arrived and found the car driven by a man, later identified as Rangel, had crashed into the living room of an occupied house, Murphy reported.

The homeowner was sitting on a chair in the living room at the time of the crash when Rangel’s car came crashing through the wall, Murphy reported, while the homeowner’s two dogs were sitting on a couch along the wall that the car hit.

The collision sent the two dogs flying and pushed the couch approximately six feet into the leg of the homeowner, according to Murphy. The homeowner reported a minor injury to his leg, but the dogs were not injured.

When officers spoke to Rangel, they smelled alcohol and found he was showing signs of being impaired, according to Murphy, and surveillance cameras on a nearby house showed Rangel’s car speeding through the neighborhood.

“Rangel admitted to drinking and then driving and ultimately losing control of the car and crashing into the house,” Murphy wrote.