Alleged drunk driver crashes into home, forcing couple out

A young couple in Windsor, N.S., have been left without a home after an alleged drunk driver smashed into the house they were renting last week.

"I was just about to take my dog outside the front door, and all of a sudden we heard a loud car revving and then this huge smash and all this glass went all over our living room," Arianna Dunfield MacLeod told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Nova Scotia on Friday.

"We had no idea what was going on."

An SUV had crossed the street and crashed into the duplex apartment and then a house on King Street around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Dunfield MacLeod said she quickly moved her dog, Luna, to safety while her boyfriend, Jake Gibbons, ran outside to see what happened.

"I was kind of in shock at the time … and for the first few minutes, no one had any idea until they saw the car another house down," she said.

West Hants District RCMP later reported that the driver, a 40-year-old Windsor woman, was exhibiting signs of impairment. 

She was arrested and taken to the hospital where she was treated for injuries. She also provided blood samples so the RCMP can test her alcohol levels.

The woman was later released but is facing charges of mischief over $5,000 and impaired operation of a motor vehicle. 

Cpl. Chris Marshall said further charges are expected to be laid in the coming months, depending on the driver's blood alcohol levels at the time.

Dunfield MacLeod said they're lucky no one was hurt in the incident, but the front of their apartment was nearly destroyed.

Their windows shattered and their door frame was pushed into the stairs, which became disconnected from the home's load-bearing wall.

Dunfield MacLeod and her boyfriend were forced to leave their apartment that night with only overnight bags. They've been temporarily staying with her boyfriend's parents in Mount Uniacke. 

Although she's grateful for the support, Dunfield MacLeod said living in Mount Uniacke isn't sustainable since she works in Falmouth, about 35 kilometres away.

"It's a bit of a drive —  a lot of gas money," she said.

Dunfield MacLeod and her partner have already started looking for another place to live in the area while their apartment is being repaired.

However the housing market in the area is pretty much non-existent, she said.

"There are not a lot of options or a lot of places that want pets in their rental units," she said.

Dunfield MacLeod did say that her rental company is "frantically" working to find them another place, but the nearest available units in Kentville, about 40 kilometres away.

Her landlord also told her repairs could take until November, leaving them without their own home for a least a month.

Dunfield MacLeod said she doesn't know what will happen next.

"We haven't really been sleeping a lot," she said. 

"We're stressed out just trying to figure things out, but our hands are pretty much tied. It's very stressful."