'They Were Screaming and Running'

By MONICA DEAN

Updated 7:30 PM PST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009

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Bevers relived the ordeal on Friday morning.

A driver on a rampage plowed into his family's Lakeside home, then ended up in a deadly crash moments later.

"All I can say is this is really sad," neighbor Margaret Bevers said Friday morning. "This is really, really, really sad more than I can say."

The home is in the 8600 block of Via Del Luz, and the fatal crash was in the 9500 block of Blossom Valley Road in Alpine, just a few miles away.

"He hit it, turned around and sped off," Bevers said, looking at her neighbor's garage.

'They Were Screaming and Running'

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'They Were Screaming and Running'

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Two Crashes Connected

The crash ruptured a gas line and sparked an explosion. Soon after, a woman and her daughter ran outside.

"They were screaming and running, and we got the neighbors and got everybody pretty much evacuated, and I called 911," Bevers said.

When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out of the home. Less than 10 minutes later, sheriff's deputies were called about a a vehicle explosion on Blossom Valley Road.

Deputies said it was the same truck that crashed into the home on Via Del Luz and that the driver was killed. Sheriff's deputies are calling the incidents a restraining order violation and a suicide.

"He did have a hot temper, but they were really going through some hard times," Bevers said.

The man's wife had a restraining order against him, according to neighbors, but they added that the couple were trying to work out their problems. The couple have two children and were married for years.

"They weren't bad people," neighbor Todd Sayles said. "They're actually pretty cool people."

The fire at the home was extinguished. Building inspectors said that it was not yet safe for anyone to be inside the home.

The medical examiner's office has not yet released the identity of the driver.