Truck misses porch by inches in MLK, 6th Street crash

June 27--An animal control officer's day ended abruptly Friday morning when his Chevrolet Suburban was put out of commission after a crash at the intersection of North Sixth Street and East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Yakima police said the driver of a red Ford Ranger, 26-year-old Michelle Sybouts of Yakima, ran a stop sign at the intersection about 10 a.m., and will be charged with failure to yield.

The Ranger ended up wedged in bushes, coming to rest just shy of the porch of the house at 115 N. Sixth St.

Mike Klecker, an animal control officer at the Humane Society who contracts with the city of Yakima, said he was driving in the right lane and veered all the way to the left when he saw the truck coming through the intersection.

His mother, Debbie Klecker, who also happens to be his insurance agent, was assessing the damage.

A man who said he was the owner of the house where the truck ended up told police he was in his backyard at the time and didn't see the collision.

Klecker was driving his personal vehicle, which he said was totaled.

"It was going to be a great day," he said. "A thousand dollars in tires I just paid off this morning -- brand new tires."

He said he was excused from work because of the collision, and as he waited, he made a phone call to notify someone that he wouldn't make his scheduled 11 a.m. appointment.

Representatives at both Yakima hospitals said they had no record of Sybouts being treated.

That stretch of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard has had problems with drivers running stop signs or doing "rolling stops," where they don't brake completely.

The city installed flashing safety lights in 2006.

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