ROWLETT, Texas — Tayler Yeager and her two children had really made their four-year rental house in Rowlett into a home. They'd made memories and started traditions there.
But everything changed in late September when Rowlett Police said a drunk driver crashed into their home.
It was 2 a.m. on September 25, and everyone inside the home was asleep -- Yeager, her two children and her nephew. The truck, driven by 21-year-old Aban Luna, was first spotted by Rowlett Police driving the wrong way down Dalrock Road. Police said Luna then ran a stop sign and collided into the house.
"The whole truck was parked right in the house," Yeager said.
Yeager remembers hearing her son screaming. Her nephew had been sleeping in the living room just feet from where the truck had stopped.
The truck had come through the dining room and took out a wall.
Yeager's 14-year-old son helped corral the driver as, according to Yeager, police officers posted up with their guns drawn outside the home.
"The officer was trying to kick through [the door] to get in," Yeager said. "[My son] pinned [Luna] up right here on the wall."
Rowlett Police charged Luna with a DUI. Nobody inside the home was badly hurt. Yeager and her children had some minor scrapes.
But so much has changed since for this single mother of two, who works and goes to school at the same time. For a month now, her family has been living out of Airbnbs because the home they'd been renting for four years is now unlivable. Neighbors, meanwhile, have had to call the police on two occasions because people have been trying to steal items from their under-repair home.
A GoFundMe page has been launched to help Yeager's family meet daily expenses. Meanwhile, she's doing her best to try to see the silver lining through her clouds.
"Some days I feel like maybe it's a blessing he crashed into our dining room and didn't kill anybody," Yeager said, crying.