Springdale Township man gets 'Christmas gift': Police home in on hit-and-run suspect who wrecked his garage

Dave Houston got an unexpected knock at his door the Saturday morning before Christmas.

“Did you see your garage?” his neighbor asked.

Perplexed, the 55-year-old man walked outside his Springdale Township home thinking, “Maybe I left my garage door open all night.”

“Well,” Houston recalled, “The garage door wasn’t even there.”

It turned out that someone crashed a car off Riddle Run Road and into Houston’s detached garage, collapsing a large part of the structure.

Mangled debris shrouded his Chevy Silverado truck that was parked inside. His chain saw was smashed. His fishing poles were ruined.

Houston quickly called the police to file a report and shared with them some surveillance footage — but the camera mostly caught only headlights flying in and out within seconds of the crash about 1 a.m.

With only a small piece of the hit-and-run driver’s vehicle left behind, Houston wasn’t optimistic that the culprit would ever be caught.

‘It made my Christmas’

On Christmas morning, Houston got another knock at his door — this time, he opened to it greet Allegheny Valley Regional Police Officer Craig Cummings.

Cummings dropped by to update Houston on the case: Police had just found the Buick they suspect wrecked his garage.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy,” Houston said. “It made my Christmas.”

It took a combination of factors to locate the car, Cummings told the Tribune-Review on Christmas afternoon.

Investigators used the piece of the vehicle found at the site of the incident to determine it was a burgundy Buick Lucerne. Then they turned to state databases, street surveillance footage and informed guesses on where the hit-and-run driver was headed to pinpoint the vehicle.

It was found parked outside the registered owner’s home in New Kensington.

“Luckily, Christmas is usually a slow day, and so I had some time to do this,” Cummings said. “At least now (Houston) can get a little bit of peace of mind.”

No charges filed yet

The owner of the car denies driving it that night, and investigators have more work to do gathering evidence and conducting interviews before filing any charges in the case, Cummings said.

“We are still actively investigating it, but we’re headed in the right direction,” he said.

For Houston, finding the car could help him avoid an estimated $1,250 in extra insurance deductible costs related to the several thousands of dollars in total damages.

He’s also happy that someone will be held accountable.

“Officer Cummings put in a lot of effort toward finding the car. He went above and beyond, and he really didn’t have to do it. But I really appreciate him finding it,” Houston said. “That was my Christmas gift.”

Coincidentally, Houston’s propane tank on the same property was struck by a hit-and-run driver about two years ago, and Cummings also worked on that investigation.

Cummings said drivers should be cautious and slow down around curves when traveling through the area.

“We have a lot of accidents, especially in the winter, on Riddle Run Road,” Cummings said. “Especially in the wintertime, especially at night, if it gets foggy or damp in the Valley, the roads are pretty treacherous.”