Linn County deputies arrested an Albany man, and a former Sweet Home woman was badly injured in a crash on Spicer Road early Sunday morning.
At 2:49 a.m. on Sunday, deputies responded to 3725 Spicer Road for a report that a vehicle had crashed into a house.
Joshua Pairan, 33, of Albany was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, recklessly endangering another person, reckless driving, second-degree criminal mischief and third-degree assault. He was lodged at the Linn County Jail.
Alcohol and excessive speed appear to be contributing factors to the crash, said Undersheriff Jim Yon.
The investigation revealed a white 2015 Subaru WRX 4-door sedan was northbound on Three Lakes Road when it failed to negotiate a curve in the road where it intersects with Spicer Road, Yon said. The vehicle left the roadway, crashing through a yard, into a power pole and then struck the front of a house before coming to a stop.
The operator, Pairan, told deputies he was out for a drive to show his friends his new car, Yon said.
The passengers were identified as Noah Padilla, 33, and his wife, Danielle Rice Padilla, 31, both of Albany. Danielle Padilla, formerly of Sweet Home, was sitting in the rear seat of the car and had to be extricated by the Albany Fire Department from the crushed vehicle.
She was transported by ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis for non-life threatening injuries.
She was later transported to Legacy Emanuel Trauma Center in Portland where she was in surgery on Monday and scheduled for additional surgery on Wednesday, said her father, Mike Rice of Sweet Home.
Her back was broken in two places, with a lacerated liver and kidneys, a bruised right lung, fractured right ribs and wrist and a broken nose. She also had a small bleed on her brain.
“She seems to be stabilized, doing a little better today, in a lot of pain, of course,” Rice said Monday. “It’ll be a long haul.”
Assisting agencies were the Albany Fire Department, Albany Police Department, Linn County Multi-Agency Crash Investigation Team (MAIT) and the Lebanon Police Department.
Linn County Sheriff’s deputies are continuing the investigation.