An out-of-control snowplow crashed into a parked car and a garage containing another vehicle on Tahmore Drive in December, Fairfield police said.
A quiet suburban street in Fairfield, Connecticut, turned into a crash scene straight out of a viral video earlier this year, when a snowplow tore across lawns and slammed into a family’s home. Police say the driver had done cocaine shortly before climbing behind the wheel, and the chaos that followed went far beyond property damage. What started as a routine plow run ended with a wrecked garage, a medical emergency and a stack of criminal charges.
At the center of it all is 46-year-old driver Mark Keene, who is accused of snorting multiple “bumps” of cocaine before losing control of his truck and smashing into a residential property. The case has quickly become a flashpoint in Connecticut’s ongoing struggle with impaired driving, raising uncomfortable questions about who is trusted to operate heavy equipment on neighborhood streets and what happens when that trust is broken.
The wild ride through a Fairfield neighborhood
Neighbors on Tahmore Drive watched in disbelief as a snowplow barreled across yards, clipped a parked car and plowed straight into a garage that held another vehicle, according to Fairfield police. Investigators say the out-of-control truck chewed up a stretch of the street before the force of the collision finally brought it to a stop, leaving splintered wood, twisted metal and a gaping hole where a family’s garage used to be on Tahmore Drive Sunday. Police later described the plow as “out-of-control,” a phrase that barely captures how close the truck came to doing even more damage as it crossed multiple properties.
Video of the crash, recorded by a home security system and shared widely online, shows the plow racing down the street before veering off course and slamming into the house, a scene that local TV reporters in Fairfield later walked through on camera. One broadcast showed the mangled garage door and debris still scattered across the driveway, with the reporter noting that the damage was still clearly visible days later. A separate clip posted online captured the truck’s path from another angle, underscoring how quickly a routine plow pass turned into a terrifying near miss for the families who live along that block, as seen in a widely shared video.
‘3 bumps of cocaine’ and a first day on the job
According to a warrant, Keene did not just lose control of the plow, he allegedly admitted to officers that he had taken drugs shortly before the crash. Police say the 46-year-old told them he had done “3 bumps of cocaine” before heading out to work, a detail that appears in multiple accounts of the incident and is cited in online court records. Another summary of the same warrant repeats that Keene, 46, acknowledged using cocaine before the crash, reinforcing investigators’ conclusion that he was under the influence while driving the heavy truck through a residential neighborhood, as reflected in additional warrant details.
It was not just any shift, either. Reports say Keene was on his first day at a new snow removal job when he allegedly snorted the cocaine and climbed into the plow, a point repeated in coverage that describes the driver as a Snowplow operator who confessed to using drugs before the crash. Another account notes that the same driver, identified as Mark Keene, told officers he had taken “bumps of cocaine” before what police later described as a bizarre and destructive ride. A separate summary of the case echoes that a Snow Plow Driver “3 bumps of cocaine” before the crash, underscoring how central that alleged confession has become to the charges.
From medical emergency to criminal charges
When officers reached the crash site, they did not just find a wrecked garage and a damaged plow, they also found Keene in clear medical distress. A warrant says he had “agonal breathing,” began foaming at the mouth and turned blue, prompting an officer to administer Narcan to reverse a suspected overdose, according to details that identify him as Mark Keene. Another report names the officer who delivered naloxone as Christian Lewzack, noting that after Christian Lewzack used the medication, Keene began to move and flutter his eyelids before regaining more stable breathing. Separate coverage also notes that officers used Narcan after Keene started foaming at the mouth, reinforcing how quickly the scene shifted from property damage to a life-or-death medical call.
Once Keene was revived and taken to the hospital, the focus turned to what had led up to the crash. Police say he reportedly admitted to doing “bumps of cocaine” when questioned by law enforcement, a detail repeated in a summary that identifies him simply as Keene. Another account notes that he told officers he had used cocaine before the crash as they rushed him to a hospital, with one report from Conn describing how the plow’s path continued across multiple yards before it reached another neighbor’s house. A separate summary of the case, which again refers to the driver as Snowplow operator Mark, notes that he allegedly confessed to snorting three “bumps of cocaine” before crashing through the garage, a confession that now sits at the heart of the criminal case.
Inside the warrant and the charges Keene faces
The warrant paints a picture of a driver who was not just careless but actively impaired, and it lays out the damage in stark terms. Police describe the plow smashing into a parked car and then into the garage, destroying vehicles inside and leaving the structure partially collapsed, according to a detailed account of the Fairfield crash. Another summary notes that the force of the collision pushed the parked car into the garage and damaged another vehicle inside, a chain reaction that left the family with a long list of repairs and insurance calls, as described in the warrant.
Keene now faces a slate of criminal counts tied to driving under the influence and reckless endangerment, with one summary noting that a snow plow driver in Connecticut is facing criminal charges after damaging property while using cocaine. Another report, which again references the Bumps of Cocaine allegation, notes that online court records accuse the driver of operating under the influence. A separate summary of the case, which refers to the incident as a Snow Plow Driver cocaine before a wild ride, underscores that prosecutors are leaning heavily on the alleged confession and the physical damage to build their case.
Community fallout and the bigger safety question
For families on that Fairfield block, the legal wrangling is only part of the story. Residents are still living with the physical reminders of the crash, from the torn-up lawns to the rebuilt garage, and some have voiced frustration that a driver allegedly high on cocaine was behind the wheel of a plow in the first place, as reflected in local coverage from Snow plow crash reports. Another broadcast segment from Connecticut shows neighbors describing how quickly the plow crossed their yards, a reminder that the line between a property damage story and a tragedy involving injuries can be razor thin. In a state where winter storms are a fact of life, the idea that a plow operator might be using hard drugs before a shift has rattled trust in the people and companies tasked with keeping roads clear.
The case has also fed into a broader conversation about drug use and public safety in Connecticut. One summary framed the incident under a “NEED TO KNOW” banner, highlighting that a plow driver is accused of damaging property while using cocaine, while another described the operator as a Wild Ride That driver whose alleged drug use turned a routine job into a criminal case. Another account, which again identifies the man as Keene, notes that he reportedly admitted to doing “bumps of cocaine” after officers used Narcan, a detail that has only sharpened calls for tighter screening and oversight of drivers who operate heavy equipment in residential areas.
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