Residents in a house on Napier's Avondale Rd were in their kitchen early on Thursday morning when a loud bang sent them scrambling.
A car had crashed through their concrete fence and come to rest on the front lawn.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said her first thought was whether the driver of the vehicle was alright.
"Our first thought was, God, is the person okay?"
But when they went to check they discovered the driver had done a runner.