A man is facing charges after he allegedly smashed a front-end loader into a home and then into a liquor store in Cape Breton early Monday.

Cape Breton Regional Police received reports around 5 a.m. that a front-end loader was attempting to demolish a home on Seaview Drive in North Sydney, N.S.

“I looked out the bedroom window and next thing you know, he was ramming at the pole … and then he turned around and went right through the side of the house,” said neighbour Gary Standing, who then called 911.

“Crazy. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. It was pretty scary for my wife and I because you don’t know if he’s going to turn around and do all the houses in the neighbourhood.”

While responding to the scene, officers received information that the machine had left the home and was travelling on Seaview Drive towards North Sydney.

The officers found it near the Northern Yacht Club, but say the driver failed to stop. The officers continued to follow the tractor to the Superstore parking lot on King Street, where they say the driver stopped briefly before crashing into a concrete barrier in front of an NSLC store.

“At that time, officers were able to approach the man, convince him to come out of the machine, and place him under arrest,” said Cape Breton Regional Police spokeswoman Desiree Vassallo.

Kevin Albert Morrison is facing four counts of mischief, as well as charges of break and enter, taking a motor vehicle without consent, and flight from police. The 51-year-old Sydney man was remanded into custody at the Cape Breton Correctional Centre and is due in court Tuesday.

“I can say this is the first time I’ve heard of something like this happening, and I’ve been working here for 10 years, so this is a pretty rare occurrence for us, and in this case, it’s a very isolated incident,” says Vassallo.

Police say no one was home at the time of the incident, and no one was inside the NSLC store, but the home sustained significant damage.

The tractor also knocked down a power pole near the home. Nova Scotia Power was called to the scene for repairs.

The incident remains under investigation.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore