Drunk Driving or Reckless? Hit & Run Accident in Boise Sparks Outrage

Olivia Wargo woke up on Tuesday morning, the same as any other day. She got ready for work, but when she went to leave, she noticed her car was further down the road than where she normally parks. 

Upon investigating, she had the gut-wrenching realization: her car had been hit hard enough by another vehicle to push it forward about ten feet, and it was absolutely destroyed.

Furthermore, there was no note or explanation given, except for a police officer’s card sitting on her dashboard, asking her to contact him when she woke up. 

So, what happened?

The accident occurred near the intersection of State and 31st Street, near the Fireside Inn. 

The supervisor of the gas station across the street (Jackson’s) apparently saw Wargo’s wrecked car on the side of the street when she came into work, so she checked their camera footage and saw a large car hit Wargo’s around 1:40 am. She then called the police to report the accident. 

How did this happen?

The road is pretty busy – it is next to a bar and a gas station, so there is quite a bit of traffic. 

Wargo lives in a triplex and there is only one driveway, so she typically parks on the side of the street. However, she has lived in this location for over two years, and has never gotten hit before because the road is pretty wide. 

“If someone was drinking and driving (which I suspect the driver was), I don’t think it matters where I park. Which is an unfortunate part of living where I do.”

What about the driver?

In a surprising turn of events, the driver of the vehicle actually came back, around noon the next day. According to Wargo, it was an extremely short interaction.

“She seemed a little off and did not explain at all what happened. She just said, ‘I am the one who hit your car, I’m sorry.’ Then she told me to take a picture of her insurance for the car, and left! I suspect drunk driving – she was clearly driving quickly and it’s a fairly wide road to completely not see a car.”

Plus, the fact that the accident occurred around 2 am, and the driver fled from the scene – it certainly doesn’t look good.

What happens now?

This was an even bigger bummer for Wargo, because she was actually rear-ended just six months ago as well. It totaled her car at the time, and she had just paid off this entire car with that insurance money. She also did some repairs and added new tires, all totaling to about $3,500 out of pocket. 

“That accident was just in June 2021. It took about two months to get all of the insurance figured out and a new car for me, so I am hoping the process goes more smoothly this time.”

Wargo is just grateful that she was not in her vehicle at the time of this accident (it was simply parked overnight), and that the driver who hit her actually did the right thing by coming back and fessing up to her crime. 

The accident sparks outrage

Boise neighbors heard about Wargo’s accident, and it started a hilarious and heated conversation on the NextDoor app. 

Michael Zawacki muses that the driver probably fled the scene because she was drunk:

“Leaving the scene will be less costly than a DUI.”

Todd Hayden hilariously discussed the time when a drunk driver “hit his fence,” and confessed after the fact:

“I had someone come and apologize to me for running into my fence and leaving, saying he wanted to make it right. He had sobered up enough to fess up to his actions, but had the wrong house, my fence was fine.”

Tim Adams discussed the maddening frequency that they’ve been seeing hit and run accidents occurring around Boise: 

“I’ve noticed about three different occasions in the past year where something like this happened on the eastside of Liberty, between Fairview and Northview.”

Lastly, Jennifer Green shared the horrific story of her daughter’s car getting totaled, with no real justice being served:

“My daughter was hit when she was sitting at a stoplight at McMillan and Eagle. The driver was uninsured, with a suspended license and no registration. She was allowed to just drive off. My daughter’s car was totaled, but there was hardly a scratch on the other vehicle. I offered for the lady to make payments to us, and at first she agreed, but now she has ghosted us. We are suing her and our court date is [later this month]. My daughter is 16 and worked so hard to save her money, and just like that it was taken away – through no fault of her own and with seemingly no consequences to the driver. [This is a] very hard life lesson to learn.”