Read more: Local, Crime, DWI, Main Street, Gipson
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- Saturday was not a good day for Kevin Morris of Jefferson City.
"I've got a renter down below my three-story house," Morris said. "She called me the next day to tell me there was some property damage; the deck was tore up and my fence that I put mega bucks into."
Police said William Joseph Gipson, 28, caused the damage.
Gipson, or Joe as his family calls him, is now behind bars in the Cole County Jail, facing a charge of felony driving while intoxicated, his fifth DWI in 10 years.
Gipson served a six-year prison sentence in the Algoa Correctional Center after his previous drunk driving convictions.
Gipson could now faces five to 15 years behind bars.
Gipson's family said he stole his grandfather's truck late Saturday night in Ashland and drove to Main Street in Jefferson City on a revoked license.
Neighbors said Gipson sped down the alley next to Morris' house, breaking a brand new water pipe along the way.
Gipson then turned into the driveway in the back of Morris' house and hit the spare tire on the back of a Jeep parked there.
Neighbors said Gipson then ran up a set of icy stairs, alcohol in hand, and started banging on the door on the deck's second story.
When no one answered, Gipson got back in his car and sped away, tearing up a retaining wall and hitting the stairs on the deck.
Instead of heading back up the alley, Gipson drove up Morris' private drive, crashing into Morris' fence and leaving behind a slew of debri.
Police caught up with Gipson a short time later, at the Breaktime station at Dix Road and West Main.
"I'm just grateful that no one was hurt and that he wasn't hurt because it would kill me," Joe Gipson's mother Ruby Gipson said.
Gipson's mother bailed him out of jail Saturday, just hours before he caused the damage on West Main.
Ruby said she does not want to make excuses for her son, but she said Joe has had lived a troubled life. Ruby said her son has had a drinking problem, along with other issues, since he was 14.
Joe Gipson's family said Joe planned to start an in-patient alcohol treatment program in Warrensburg soon, but was arrested on an outstanding Boone County warrant.
"He's manic bi-polar and has suicidal depression," Ruby said. "He turns to alcohol because it instantly makes him feel better."
As for Morris, he said he'll feel better when he knows the insurance is going to pay to fix the property damage.
