HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. – Each time Highland Park resident Isabelle Gaddie puts up a new privacy fence around her yard, it gets mowed over by an out-of-control driver.
It’s happened 25 times in the past 43 years, with multiple crashes happening this year alone.
Last spring, Local 4 visited her Beresford Street home to survey the damage after a driver using the Davison Service Drive, which runs along the backside of her property, lost control and took down the fence.
Gaddie, who is 80 years old, lives on a fixed income. Her homeowner’s insurance denied the claim, and that driver was uninsured, so she spent the past several months saving for a new fence.
“Each time it’s like everybody that comes through it doesn’t have any insurance,” said Gaddie, who spent $1,800 on a new chain link fence with cement posts.
H and K Customs Services finished the job Monday (Aug. 7) evening. By Tuesday afternoon, a driver had hit it with such force that it bent down to the ground.
Gaddie had just returned home from the hospital when she heard the crash. She went to check on the occupants of the car and said they were OK.
Gaddie, who walks with a cane after being hit in her own yard, asked the men if they would be willing to help her upright the fence to keep her dogs from getting out.
They agreed, but when she returned to the yard with the materials, they were gone.
“I feel terrible because when it happened, I went to see about everyone in the accident nobody seemed to think I needed assistance,” Gaddie said.
H and K Customs Services started a GoFundMe account on behalf of Gaddie.
The money raised will go towards the materials, and the owners say they will donate their labor.
“We sympathize for her situation, and we completely understand her frustration. The police and the traffic commission are looking at options to assist her, but we are limited. The individual who was involved in this most recent accident was cited.”
Highland Park Police Department
