Around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Matt Rice was at home watching TV with his dad while his sister was getting ready to go out for the night. However, those plans changed in an instant.
Rice said he remembers a very loud sound. He ran to the door to and reportedly saw a dark-colored SUV reversing off his dad's Lincoln. He watched as the SUV hit his dad's car again before driving off, scraping the driver's side of the car.
Both Rice and his father, Brian, ran after the SUV. Rice said his father was able to take down the SUV's license plate number.
Rice's sister, Ashlee, had her truck parked outside their home in the 2700 block of Curdes Avenue.
"I found the bumper (of the SUV) on the hood of my truck," she said.
The Rices' vehicles were among five allegedly hit by the SUV on Saturday night. A short time after the Rices' vehicles were hit, the alleged driver of the SUV was arrested after rear-ending a vehicle near the intersection of Lake Avenue and Coliseum Boulevard.
Thomas R. Holman, 66, was arrested Saturday night and has been preliminarily charged with leaving the scene of a property damage crash and two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, both misdemeanors.
According to a probable-cause affidavit, Holman was traveling east in the 2500 block of Curdes Avenue and struck at least five parked cars.
He continued east onto Lake Avenue where, according to the report, he drove onto a median and "destroyed" a city traffic sign and "again failed to stop."
Holman finally stopped when he rear-ended another car with five children inside, but when officers arrived he "was still trying to drive away," according to the affidavit.
A witness to the crash told police he saw the SUV driving recklessly and began following the vehicle near State and Beacon streets. According to a police report, the witness told police Holman knocked over about 15 construction barrels on Lake Avenue.
Officers observed that Holman could barely stand and reported a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. Police attempted to give Holman sobriety tests at the scene, but said it was hard for Holman to understand simple instructions.
Holman submitted to breath tests, which measured his blood alcohol level at .22, according to court documents. The legal limit is .08. According to the affidavit, Holman told police he had started drinking earlier that morning and had no idea how much he had.
Officers also reported that Holman was unaware he had hit anything with his vehicle.
