The home of a Whangārei man in his 80s was destroyed when an allegedly stolen car landed on its roof. Photo: RNZ / Susan Edmunds
The home of a Whangārei man in his 80s has been destroyed after a car travelling at high speed flew off the road, sailed over a neighbour's unit and crashed through his roof.
The man's distraught partner said he was in hospital at the time and only found out on Wednesday morning.
The car smashed through a barrier on Mill Road and landed in the man's living room on Miller's Lane just after 11pm on Tuesday night, completely destroying the unit.
Police said it was incredibly fortunate no one was killed.
Senior Sergeant Rene Rakete said officers were called to the corner of Mill Road and Millers Lane about 11pm, after the car hit a fence at high speed then landed on a roof.
Police would likely be dealing with a death if the owner had been home at the time, he said.
The car eventually came to a stop in front of the unit, with both the property and the vehicle significantly damaged, Rakete said.
The driver fled and a police dog was unable to track anyone from the car.
Police were, however, "following lines of enquiry".
The man's partner said police told her the car was stolen and the driver fled on foot.
The officer estimated the car was travelling at 180km/h when it left the road, she said.
"It's obviously uninhabitable... This is his home, it's heartbreaking."
The man's partner said police told her the car was stolen and the driver fled on foot. Photo: RNZ / Susan Edmunds
She said he had lived in the brick-and-tile unit, in the suburb of Kensington, for the past nine years.
She told RNZ she was waiting for an insurance assessor to come up from Auckland, and she was trying to find a builder to make what was left of his unit safe.
Reportedly, the only damage to the first unit was a fence paling through the garage roof.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
