Suburban Crashes Into Richholt School, Driver Arrested - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

A driver crashed a Suburban into Richholt School this morning and fled the scene. A 24-year-old Bismarck man has been arrested and charged with DUI.

Around 5 oclock this morning someone driving this blue Suburban crashed into Richholt School. 

"When we arrived this morning the Suburban was obviously into the building, it looked like he lost control, you know there is a street that ends right to the east side of the building here and didn't realize it ended there's no stop sign or anything and just crashed into it," says facility supervisor Jason Mittlestadt. 

The driver was going fast enough to cause damage inside the building.  Mittlestadt says a structural engineer is working to determine exactly how much damage was done. 

"The doorway shifted a little bit but there is a beam in the front there that moved back about an inch and the impact went all the way into the hallway where it actually buckled the ceiling grid," says Mittlestadt. 

Mittlestadt says if there is good news in the story, it's where the driver hit the building. 

"If he would have been five more feet to the south he obviously would have went inside of the building.  You know where he went into he ended up going over the top of the steps which absorbed some of the impact which slowed him down a little bit and yeah if he would have been over a little bit he would have been inside and caused a lot more damage to the building and probably himself," says Mittlestadt.

Police say the driver was not being pursued, but fled the scene.

Authorities are seeking other charges in the case, including leaving the scene of an accident and care required.

Richholt houses the BECEP program in Bismarck.