Car crashes into Albany home: Homeowner says suspected drunk driver nearly hits sleeping 15-year-old daughter

“My daughter was lying in her bed when the accident happened and the wheel was about six feet from her head,” Cranston said.

“She doesn’t sleep much.”

Mia said she initially heard a loud bang and the sound of the fence around the house being broken, then she looked out the window and saw the entire underside of the car.

“I thought maybe our family didn’t have a car. Then we walked outside and saw there was indeed a car next to the house.

Mia said: “I thought it was just a car accident on the road because they all sounded the same.”

Cranston said he believed the driver jumped the curb, drove off the lawn and hit a retaining wall.

“I think it will slow him down, but it will also make him improve,” he said.

“If he cleared that, he would have burst into my daughter’s bedroom at the front of the house.”

Still, Cranston said he thought it was an earthquake because the house shook so violently.

A police spokesman said the driver’s breath alcohol content tested at 930 microgrammes, almost four times the legal limit.

Cranston told The Herald He believed the driver had been drinking Chinese wine with an alcohol content of 62%.

“One officer told me he was surprised the driver had even found the ignition device.”

Cranston added that the driver was asleep for most of the time when the accident occurred. He said the driver did not communicate at first and finally had to ask a neighbor to come out and translate.

“He’d wake up, make a few calls, and be laughing and joking.”

The driver, a 44-year-old man, will appear in North Shore District Court on Thursday charged with drink driving and dangerous driving.

Waitemata acting road policing manager Warwick Stainton said if anyone had any doubts about whether they were driving safely or legally, they should not drive.

“People who drink and drive not only put themselves at risk, they put others on the road at risk,” he said.

“This incident caused extensive damage to someone’s home and could have been avoided if someone had called a taxi.

“If you are going to drink, plan ahead and make sure you have arranged a safe way to get home – whether that’s arranging for a sober driver to pick you up, or catching a taxi or ride-pool.”

Benjamin Plummer is a reporter based in Oakland, covering breaking news. The Herald From 2022 onwards.