'There was debris that was on her bed': Car crashes through Nanaimo house, narrowly misses child
Police are investigating after a vehicle plowed into a house in Nanaimo, B.C., narrowly missing a nine-year-old girl.
The crash happened at approximately 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when the driver lost control of her vehicle while heading southbound on the Old Island Highway.
The car sailed over an embankment and struck a parked car before travelling across a lawn and into the house near the corner of Highland Boulevard and Cosgrove Crescent.
"There was a number of people in the home and nobody was injured," said Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Const. Gary O'Brien. "The car came to rest about six feet from where a young girl was sleeping."
Police say the driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. A dog that was in the car was not injured.
An impaired driving investigation has been launched, O'Brien said.
An impaired driving investigation has been launched in the wake of the crash, according to the Nanaimo RCMP. (CTV News)
Jeff Heaslip says he got home from work around 9:45 p.m. and was just getting into bed when the car crashed through his daughter's bedroom.
"By the time I put my head on the pillow, I heard a crash and then went and looked out the window and heard a big crash," he said Monday.
Heaslip thought a tree had fallen on the house.
"I came into my daughter's room and that's where the car was," he said. "There was debris that was on her bed. I grabbed her and then told everybody to get out of the house."
Police say the driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. (Jeff Heaslip)
The vehicle remained lodged in the side of the home Monday morning.
"At this point, the vehicle is still in the house," O'Brien said. "Fortis and [BC] Hydro and fire responded. They shut off all the utilities to the home. They're just figuring out now how to safely get the car out of the house."
Heaslip and his four children are staying in a hotel until engineers can assess the damage to the building.
"We're trying to gather up as much of our belongings as we could," said Heaslip, who thanked the community and first responders for their support.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.