Man injured when car jumps curb
BRIAN WALKER/Press A Coeur d’Alene Police officer clears the scene for an investigation of where a vehicle jumped a curb, injured Jim Lawson and damaged the Second Street Commons building in downtown Coeur d’Alene on Thursday afternoon. The building has been shut down by the city until it is deemed safe.
BRIAN WALKER/Press Responders transport Jim Lawson, a certified peer support specialist with the Kaleidoscope Community Services nonprofit, after he was struck by a vehicle while sitting on the outside of the Second Street Commons in downtown Coeur d’Alene on Thursday afternoon.
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — A man who had been enjoying a leisurely sunny afternoon downtown was transported to the hospital Thursday after he was pinned between a building and a vehicle that had jumped a curb.
Jason Tyree said Jim Lawson was sitting between he and Patrick Stewart and playing a guitar on a bench outside the Kootenai Recovery Community Center in the 400 block of Second Street when Lawson was struck around 3 p.m. by a Subaru Outback that was in reverse.
"We both baled to each side and Jim tried to go over the car, but he couldn't because his leg got caught between the car and the building," Tyree said.
Lawson's condition at Kootenai Health was unavailable at press time. Gar Mickelson, executive director of Kaleidoscope Community Services, which leases the space for the center and other entities from Dwight Wilson, said Lawson was in surgery on Thursday night.
"They're trying to save the leg," Mickelson said. "It's touch and go."
Lawson is a part-time paid staff member of Kaleidoscope as a certified peer support specialist.
"He helps guests and clients find resources so he is crucial to what we do," said Mickelson, who was not on site during the crash. "We are torn up by this."
Mickelson said Tyree and Stewart are clients at the recovery center.
The senior man driving the Outback with Kootenai County license plates declined to comment at the scene.
Tyree said the driver appeared to "freak out" as he was backing up and the Outback jumped the curb.
Tyree said he rushed inside the center and grabbed a towel to assist the bleeding Lawson.
Paul Swanson said he took Lawson's belt to use it as a tourniquet. Swanson said he had been trying to help the driver park.
"(The driver) needed help parking, he panicked and floored it," Swanson said. "Jim didn't get out of the way fast enough. When the car was in reverse, it almost took everyone out."
Will McPherson said he was sitting inside the center on the couch when he heard a loud boom from the crash.
"I thought (Lawson) was going to die," McPherson said. "He was hit by the back of the vehicle and was in pretty bad shape."
The crash caused heavy damage to the side of the building. Mickelson said the recovery center and the other ministries that use the building will be without a home until the structure is deemed safe.
"The building has been red-tagged (by the city) until it is fixed," he said. "A crucial post was broken."
The operation of Lakers wasn't affected by the crash.
Coeur d'Alene police officers declined to comment at the scene, citing the active investigation.