BUCKEYE, Ariz. — A man reportedly confessed to police that he was high on methamphetamines when he crashed his car into a Buckeye apartment complex Monday afternoon, court documents state.
In addition to the drug and crash-related charges, he is also facing a kidnapping charge for allegedly restraining his girlfriend in the backseat at the time of the crash.
The crash happened just before 1 p.m. on Monday at Cholla Ranch Apartments near Miller and Baseline roads.
Court documents say that 37-year-old Keith Eric Auzenne, whose license had previously been suspended for previous DUI charges, was speeding southbound on Miller Road.
He was reportedly driving at roughly 100 miles per hour when he veered off the road, launched into the air and crashed into the building.
According to those documents, Auzenne had been in an argument with his girlfriend who was also in the car at the time. After she climbed into the backseat, Auzenne reportedly held her against the floorboard until the crash.
Auzenne allegedly told police that he considered ramming the vehicle into a nearby truck, but swerved at the last minute, leading to the crash.
The car took out a patio and wall of a first-floor apartment. The units above and next door were also damaged. At the time, the apartment that was struck had four children and two adults inside, police said. One of the children's feet was injured by shards of glass on the floor. The crash caused roughly $100,000 in damages.
"All I heard was just a big crash and bang, almost something like metal," Daymien Llamas, a witness, said.
Llamas was one of several residents present at the time of the crash.
"Part of the wall came through the window and shattered glass and hit my mom," Iven Davis said.
Breanna Rhea told 12News she saw the driver speeding on and off the road shortly before the crash.
"He sped up and then went on the right-hand shoulder and sped really fast past me in the dirt, and then got back over onto the street, passed somebody else on the left," Rhea said. "He had to have been going at least, I'm going to say about 80 (miles per hour)."
The front end of the car was left crushed, but police said Auzenne managed to run away, leaving his girlfriend injured in the backseat.
Officers later arrested him at his home and he was taken to the hospital. While there, Auzenne reportedly told police he'd smoked meth before driving.
Auzenne's girlfriend was taken to the hospital with a suspected serious injury to her back, court documents stated.
"For them to come through the wall and survive, just thank the big man upstairs," Davis said.
The apartment is boarded up and the residents will be displaced until the unit is deemed livable.
Auzenne is facing six counts of felony endangerment charges, an aggravated assault charge, a kidnapping charge and several drug-related charges.
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What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.