Man survives after hitting garage full of tools, hazardous material

A 71-year-old Minden man survived a collision into a detached garage where he was found Thursday morning.

Russell Nafus reportedly has a seizure, lost control of his 1999 Lincoln Wednesday night and traveled over ditches, sagebrush and a horse pasture into the detached garage, on the 1000 block of Stephanie Way in Minden, where he was trapped.

"About 10 p.m. (Wednesday night), I was in the kitchen and I heard a boom," said homeowner Debbie Totaro. "You know how a plane flies over and makes a noise -- I thought it was a plane. I didn't think of it. Then this morning a sheriff comes to our door and says 'There may be a dead man in your garage.' Get the garage door open now.'"

Deputies came to the Totaros' door about 7:30 a.m. Thursday after a neighbor noticed the downed fences and followed tire tracks to the Totaros' garage.

When deputies opened the garage door, Nafus was alive.

Tim Totaro moved tractors, a motorcycle and his boat, which was hit, so paramedics could remove Nafus from the car.

"(Nafus') eyes were bugged out of his head ... he must have traveled 1,000 feet off the road going through the backside of the garage," Tim Totaro said.

Nafus' driver's license was revoked Aug. 19, 2002, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Reportedly, he had not taken his seizure medication.

"I can't believe he didn't blow himself up," Debbie Totaro said. "There were two tractors with gas in there. If he had swerved any further, he would've killed me and my dog," who were in the house.

Nafus was flown Thursday morning to Washoe Medical Center in Reno. By 11 a.m., most of the vehicles occupying the Totaros' driveway had left, leaving the couple with a garage that a building inspector said was unstable.

"I've got insurance," said Tim Totaro as he waited for an adjustor to arrive.

Parts of Nafus' car were strewn through the ditches and fields, when Tim walked the Lincoln's tracks this morning.

"I'm totally shocked," he said. "No matter what kind of speed he was going, for him to make it that far through the sagebrush and the wet ground, you would think for sure he would have stopped in the ditch that he flew over to fly into my shop."