Alarming crash

A Nelson alarm and security company was on the receiving end of an unexpected security breach late last Thursday night when an alleged drunk driver ploughed into their Tāhunanui premises.

Nelson Alarms Security Systems managing director Adrian Laing says he received a phone call just before midnight from their monitoring centre.

“There were a whole pile of activations and sensors going off, so I jumped on the cameras a saw a vehicle in the docking bay area.”

The car had ploughed through the metal roller door, which folded back on itself and triggered the fire alarm when the driver had tried to reverse out.

Adrian says he was on the scene soon after the call, along with multiple police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand crews.

“I couldn’t quite believe what I saw.”

He estimates the driver was going between 80-100kmh when they ploughed through the Pascoe St intersection, and emergency services told him the driver was “significantly” over the alcohol limit.

“They were just going for it.”

The driver was not seriously injured.

Adrian says the following hours involved “a lot” of clean up and securing the building.

“The police and fire brigade were awesome and so helpful in helping us get the building secure and safe, I can’t thank them enough.”

The driver was caught on film, with the business sharing the dramatic CCTV on their Facebook page. The post read: “When we said ‘drop in any time’, this isn’t what we meant”.

The post attracted a number of comments, with one reading: “Sure did choose the wrong building to slam into. CCTV all over it. It’s like your own advertisement to use.”

Adrian says luckily there has been no significant damage to the workshop area of the business and they can still operate out of their offices at the rear of the building.