“I saw this car coming down Grey St, it was going very slowly. I was waiting for it to turn and go past me so I could reverse my car, but then it turned and went straight up the footpath and steps through the front door of Priority One.
“It was extraordinary to watch.”
Uffindell said he first thought someone was ram raiding Priority One, the economic development organisation for Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty.
“Then I thought, obviously they’re not, so I ran over there with a couple of other people to help.”
Uffindell said the emergency services were “fantastic” and were on the spot “really quickly”.
One witness, who wished to remain anonymous, was one of the first on the scene.
He said after the first initial hit of the stairs, the car was “bouncing around” and then went through the window.
“You could see it go up the stairs, and I got confused for a bit. I was like, is it a car ram? And maybe they’ve gotten it wrong, but it wasn’t.
A car had driven into the Priority One building on Grey St in Tauranga. Photo / Kaitlyn Morrell
“The main thing is she [the driver] is safe. I think I was the first or second on the scene, opened the door to her, put her in park, turned the car off.”
Priority chief executive Dave Courtney said he was “very thankful” no one was injured.
“A bit of damage and a bit of clean up to be done now, but the main thing is no one was hurt.“
He said it was fortunate no one was walking past the building when the vehicle crashed through it, and that the front office, where the car entered, was unoccupied at the time.
“My understanding is the driver, I think is okay as well, but no doubt probably in a bit of shock.”
Emergency services at the scene of the crash on Grey St in Tauranga. Photo / Kaitlyn Morrell
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Northern communications shift manager Colin Underdown said crews from Tauranga and Greerton were called to the Grey St crash at 10.34am.
He said a car had crashed into a building and one person was involved.
“One person was still in the car when we got there, but we assisted them,” Underdown said.
“All persons are out of the vehicle.”
Police and Hato Hone St John also attended, he said.
A police spokesperson said they were called to the crash at 10.20am