Two severely damaged vehicles were in the path of destruction of an alleged drunk driver in north Nanaimo just before midnight Tuesday. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

damaging crash

Suspected drunk driver damages several vehicles in loud late-night wreck

Dec 23, 2020 | 5:23 AM

NANAIMO — A series of bangs rang out in a north Nanaimo neighbourhood after a suspected impaired driver bounced his car off several parked vehicles.

It happened Tuesday Dec. 22 around 11:45 pm on Uplands Dr. in front of the new Arbutus apartment building just below the Northridge Village shopping plaza.

The driver was placed in the back of an ambulance on scene after the high-impact crash.

Witness Brett Grangier was watching a movie in an apartment unit facing the scene when the crash ocurred.

“When I came up to his door he was unconscious, when we got it open he woke up then. I just rushed down as fast as I could and make sure nobody was hurt. He seemed somewhat fine,” Grangier said, whose girlfriend’s car was damaged in the incident.

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It’s believed the driver in his 20’s or early 30’s was not seriously hurt.

There were no other injuries and no passengers were in the man’s black Mazda sedan.

At least four vehicles parked along Uplands Dr. were hit in succession as the driver barreled up the hill.

An SUV and truck sustained serious side impact damage.

Rob Burns joined Grangier to tend to the driver.

“He was alright, we made sure there was nobody else in the vehicle. It doesn’t look like he has any broken bones. You could smell the alcohol, he’s lucky to be alive and thank god nobody else was in this,” Burns said.

A newer model Mazda driven by a lone male occupant on Uplands Dr. was severely damaged near the entrance to the Northridge Village shopping plaza. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Nanaimo RCMP on scene confirmed alcohol was being investigated as a contributing factor.

Speed is also believed to have played a role.

Burns said the sound of the crash was sickening.

“Just a boom, I thought it was a head-on, the speed that he was going to move that car six, seven feet was just unbelievable. It was a huge sound, like an explosion,” Burns said.

Remnants from several vehicles littered the crash scene.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes