Two Clearwater women, Jocelyn and Barbara Ripley, were in an Abbotsford hotel room when a car crashed into it while they were sleeping. Both appear to have suffered only minor injuries but were shaken up by the experience.
The incident occurred just before midnight on Saturday, April 8 at the Best Western Bakerview on Sumas Way in Abbotsford.
“It was terrifying,” said Jocelyn Ripley. “I was asleep and all of the sudden I felt the impact. I didn’t realize that my bed had been flung across the room. I did realize that there was a car in our room, embedded in the wall.”
The room was full of dust from the drywall and insulation as well as car exhaust (the engine was still running), the Clearwater woman said.
Fearing the vehicle might burst into flames, she grabbed her mother and they fled outside, ending up in the hotel parking lot.
Ambulance, police and fire trucks arrived almost immediately, she said.
The car’s driver was believed to have fled on foot and was not found by police, despite the use of dogs.
Her mother was checked over in hospital and then released.
As of Monday afternoon, Jocelyn Ripley was still in hospital with what appears to be minor damage to her liver.
Inset photo: Debris is strewn across an Abbotsford hotel room after a car plows into it Saturday night, April 8. Submitted photo
Below: A photo taken shortly after the incident shows the car inside the hotel room, next to a partially damaged bed. Abbotsford News photo
