A 70-year-old Crystal Lakes man caused substantial damage to his home and damaged a neighbor’s fence Tuesday evening.
Russell Jones, of Lincoln Rd., said he had just come home from the grocery store and backed into his driveway. “I got out of the car and it started moving backward and hit the garage,” he said.
Jones said he panicked when he saw “all kinds of stuff crashing down on my car and it shattered my back window.” He said he pulled forward and destroyed a neighbor’s fence across the street.
The neighbor across the street said that previous owners had put up concrete fence posts to help prevent drivers from sliding into their yard on snowy days.
Jones had knocked down one of those fence posts.
He appeared to be intoxicated when deputies arrived, but Jones said he was so nervous from the accident that he went inside his home and started drinking.
“And that’s the truth,” he said.
Power wires to the home were knocked down leaving the home without electricity.
“I can stay here tonight,” said Jones. “I have a flashlight.”
Deputies had taped off the home and were not allowing Jones to enter because of structural damage to the residence.
He is expected to be charged with failure to control.