Chain reaction involves 15 cars

An out-of-control motor home rammed into two cars at the intersection of Koontz and Carson streets on Thursday afternoon before plowing into a South Carson City car lot, damaging nearly a dozen new Toyotas.

No one was seriously hurt.

The accident happened about 2:37 p.m., said Trooper Chris Smithen of the Nevada Highway Patrol, when the driver of a 1986 Fleetwood Bounder, Thomas Hernandez, 76, told investigators his brakes failed as he approached the intersection in the northbound center lane.

The motor home struck a Jeep in the right turn lane driven by Adolfo Selva, 73, of Zephyr Cove, and a Volvo driven by an unidentified woman.

The impact sent the Volvo into the intersection, where it struck a Hyundai truck driven by Raul Santiago Mendez Jr., 32, of Carson City, as he sat facing west to make a left turn onto Carson Street, Smithen said.

The motor home, which was towing a trailer, then went northeast through the intersection and into the lot of Carson City Toyota, where it took out 11 new cars, including a $60,000 Toyota Four Runner and the entire inventory of hybrid Toyota Priuses valued at $21,000 each.

Mendez, his wife, Jennifer, their children Noel, 18 months, Ashley, 5, and passenger Mary Rodriquez were all in the Hyundai.

"It happened so fast," Rodriquez, of Carson City, said. "The signal said go for us, but he just came through the light."

"It scared me, I was worried about my girls," Mendez said. None of the occupants of Mendez's vehicle was injured.

Trooper Anthony Cozzi said Hernandez and his wife Christine were in the process of moving from their Lake Tahoe home to Grants Pass, Ore., when the accident occurred.

The woman in the Volvo was taken to Carson-Tahoe Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries, police said.

Northbound traffic was routed through Eagle Station Lane and tangled the intersections along Silver Sage Drive at Koontz Lane and Clearview Drive. The parking lots of Mervyns and J.C. Penney's were also busy with motorist looking for a way around the accident.

Crews had the area cleaned up by 5 p.m.

Smithen said the investigation continues.