CRASH TERROR FAMILY SHAKEN AS UTE SLAMS INT O HOUSE

A TOWNSVILLE family woken by a stolen ute smashing into their house have spoken about the traumatic ordeal.

Police have charged a 30year-old man with multiple serious offences after the stolen ute crashed into a residence in Vincent just before 6.30am on Saturday.

It is alleged the man forced his way into a Blaxland Cres residence around 4am before threatening a man and woman inside the house. During the incident, the man allegedly threw furniture around and smashed a glass table.

When a 34-year-old man, who was at the address, attempted to leave in his vehicle, the man allegedly opened the driver’s door and forced him out of the ute before stealing it and driving off. Police located the stolen vehicle, a white Nissan Navara, in Clement Cres after it crashed into the front of a residence.

The man attempted to flee the scene before being arrested and taken to Townsville University Hospital as a precaution.

Mr Byrnes (who declined to give his first name) lives in the Clement Cres house the vehicle smashed into. He was woken by the noise of the car screaming down the road.

“I heard the screeching of tyres and then I heard the bang,” Mr Byrnes said.

“I got off the bed and I felt the whole house shudder, and I was like ‘ someone has run into the house’.

“So I ran out of my room, told the kids to stay inside and ran to the bottom of the stairs and by that time he was jumping the fence and the officers were already on to him. They were there, on the spot.”

Mr Byrnes said the children of his partner, who were in the house at the time, were shaken by the incident.

“They were a bit traumatised, they’re not too bad now,” he said.

“They were a bit scared more than anything that their mum wasn’t here. She was walking up Castle Hill this morning.

“The police were able to reassure them they were safe. The initial wake up was the most scary thing for the kids.”

While the ute ended up smashing against the base of their home, Mr Byrnes was thankful the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

“It got airborne from the cement around the garden and when it landed it dived into the ground and stopped its momentum.”

The 30-year-old Garbutt man has been charged with one count of robbery, three counts of wilful damage and one count each of dangerous operation of a vehicle, evade police, driving while disqualified and obstruct police.

He is due to appear in Townsville Magistrates Court today.