Woman imprisoned for crashing into Cody restaurant

Posted 4/10/24

POWELL (WNE) — A Cody woman has been sentenced to prison for drunkenly crashing into a building last year and injuring a person inside.

Heather L. Johnson recently received a four- to …

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Woman imprisoned for crashing into Cody restaurant

Posted

POWELL (WNE) — A Cody woman has been sentenced to prison for drunkenly crashing into a building last year and injuring a person inside.

Heather L. Johnson recently received a four- to six-year sentence on a felony count of property destruction and a misdemeanor count of driving while under the influence of alcohol and controlled substances.

Before Johnson smashed through the wall of Cody’s El Vaquero restaurant in March 2023, authorities said she’d drunk about 32 ounces of vodka — which was reportedly in addition to regular marijuana use and prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and ketamine. It was the 59-year-old’s third DUI in the past decade and fifth overall, prosecutors have said.

Johnson had been attempting to turn onto Cody’s Big Horn Avenue from Blackburn Street around 8:30 p.m., but went over the curb, across a small lawn and into El Vaquero’s south-facing wall.

While the restaurant was closed at the time, staffers were still in the building and a young man was pinned underneath Johnson’s Dodge when it came through the wall.

He had to be freed by first responders and then taken to Cody Regional Health. According to one of the restaurant’s workers, Johnson tried driving away, but the worker “turned off the truck and took the keys,” Cody police wrote in an affidavit.

In addition to the prison time, District Court Judge Bill Simpson ordered Johnson to pay $41,872.11 in restitution to cover the young man’s medical bills and his personal property that was destroyed in the crash.

As of Wednesday, Johnson remained in the Park County Detention Center, awaiting transport to a Wyoming Department of Corrections facility.