The aftermath of car crashes can often result in insurance claims and medical bills, but for 20-year-old Kameran Jordan a car crashing into his apartment has left him without a bed to sleep on and his cherished possessions lost in the rubble. Although grateful to have his life, his girlfriend and his dog safe, Kameran is left picking up the pieces while balancing work and an uncertain living situation.
At around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8 San Marcos police officers responded to a crash at the 1856 Apartments located off the I-35 frontage road. A fourteen-year-old female was driving in the apartment’s parking lot with a second fourteen-year-old female as the passenger, according to an SMPD spokesperson. After failing to negotiate a turn, the car struck apartment building 13, becoming lodged inside the corner of the building, No one was injured but police had to enter the apartment to rescue the girls from the vehicle, according to the SMPD. The building has been deemed uninhabitable at this time and apartment management has worked to help displaced residents find other units, including the upstairs neighbor who was home during the crash and felt the impact below him.
Kameran was also displaced, as the car still sits inside his bedroom. The impact of the crash destroyed much of the room’s furniture including the bed the he recently bought. Kameran came to San Marcos to attend TXST but has taken a break from school to work and save since he’s paying his own way. The crash not only destroyed his property but has now displaced him, with his apartment offering him only a temporary unit since the style of his unit was not available, according to Kameran.
“My grandfather gave me a watch and a bracelet before he passed away, I had some of his ashes and some pictures of us from a long time ago and a lot of stuff that I can’t find through the wreckage right now,” Kameran said. “What’s taken a toll on me the most is not the material things that I lost, but the sentimental things I no longer have access to.”
Kameran, who works nights, had taken an early shift at work that day and had taken his dog out before his shift. He heard the car before seeing it, noticing a car going fast throughout the complex.
“We lived next to the access, so I thought maybe a car was coming off the highway and they were just speeding or whatever but then it sounded like it was really close. So I turned around and I saw a car with the lights on inside, like the above headlight, no lights on around the car, no brake lights, no front headlights,” Kameran said.
Then he saw the car speeding down the side street near his building.
“I heard them hit their brakes and I look up and there’s two girls in there. I couldn’t really tell their age but I could tell that they were in there and they were laughing really loud, hysterically, like, they were having a lot of fun,” Kameran said.
Kameran returned home, got dressed and left the apartment for work, along with his girlfriend. He works only 10 minutes away from the apartment and got a notification on his phone that there was a power outage in the area. About 10 minutes after the text he received a call from an unknown number. A follow-up text revealed that his property manager was trying to inform him that there was an emergency at his apartment and to return.
“As I was talking to her on the phone, the police were calling me, so I started to freak out a little bit. My dog was there alone. Normally my dog sleeps in my room with me when I’m home or my door is open and he’ll go in there and walk around so I was really worried about my dog,” Kameran said.
His property manager confirmed the dog was safe and Kameran left his shift to rush back home to assess the damage and talk to law enforcement. He arrived to multiple police cars but was not able to receive answers to all his questions since the police said the girls involved were minors.
The police instructed him to enter and grab a bag of clothes since he would not be able to stay in the apartment because they were worried about structural integrity caused by the crash.
In the aftermath, he talked to the police and shared his experience from earlier in the day. His apartment moved him into a new unit but only temporarily since the unit was not the same as his damaged one, he said. In the days after the crash Kameron has been working to recover as many items as possible that he can access while trying to follow up with police and insurance.
“The car’s still there, so I can’t really tell what all is trapped underneath the car, around the car that I can’t see in my room,” Kameran said. “Everybody else in the complex has already been able to move all their stuff into new apartments and they’re already sleeping in beds, but I don’t have a bed to sleep in.”
As Kameran works to pick up the pieces, community members have reached out to offer what they can.
“I feel like there’s people that are on that are on my side on this, I don’t feel like I’m completely alone,” Kameran said.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the SMPD, and charges for the driver and passenger of the car have not yet been determined.
Kameran’s girlfriend Jas made a Facebook post showing support for her boyfriend and offering opportunities for the community to help as he works to replace what was lost. For information on how to help Kameran, visit tiny.ee/6vnx001 to see her post.
