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Next time, knock

Car that plowed into 89-year-old’s house destroyed her living room

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Keith Harrison, owner of Harrison Construction. works on repairing the front wall of Marguerite Cassen’s home at 602 N. Third St. Tuesday afternoon after it was struck by a vehicle early Tuesday morning.

Marguerite Cassen woke up early Tuesday morning to one of the loudest noises she’s ever experienced in her 89 years.

By woke up, she means awakened suddenly — at 1:23 a.m.

“Did it ever wake me,” she said.

She initially had no idea what the noise was.

“I thought it was firecrackers,” she said. “It was just a big boom.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
In addition to the damge to her home, Marguerite Cassen also lost the majority of her living room furniture when a car crashed into her home early Tuesday morning.

That boom was a car crashing into her home at 602 N. Third St. When she got up to investigate, she saw the car and its occupants.

“I called 911,” she said.

Then she called out to the people in the car.

”They didn’t answer,” she said.

Fort Dodge police Capt. Ryan Gruenberg said the car was northbound on Third Street when the driver lost control. The driver of the car was taken to UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center, he said. He did not believe the driver’s injuries to be serious.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Marguerite Casson watches as crews work on her home Tuesday afternoon after a car crashed into it early Tuesday morning.

Gruenberg said that alcohol may have been a factor in the crash. Citing the accident as an ongoing investigation, he did not identity the driver who may be charged later.

The car was likely off the ground when it struck the house. A chunk of turf had been scraped off the curb and there were no tire tracks between the street and the house.

The crash took out part of Cassen’s kitchen wall, the majority of her living room wall, and destroyed or damaged almost all of the furniture in her living room. It did leave her TV in one piece, but she said she’s getting a new one anyway.

By late Tuesday afternoon a large roll-off refuse container was filled with what used to be her living room

Family and friends gathered to help.

The late afternoon found Cassen sitting in an office chair in the shade of a tree watching the workers repair her home, and enjoying a cold beer.

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