Charges laid after SUV crashes hotel lobby, hits 4 people, pins 6 more in elevator

YELLOWKNIFE – A woman is facing impaired driving charges after a Christmas Eve crash in Yellowknife that saw an SUV smash though a hotel lobby and into an elevator.

Miraculously, no one was seriously injured during the crash at the Explorer Hotel on Wednesday, Cpl. Josh Seaward of Yellowknife RCMP said.

“Four people had been struck by this vehicle before it ultimately came to rest at the back of the lobby up against the elevator shaft,” he said in an interview Monday.

He said it took firefighters more than an hour to rescue the six people trapped in the elevator. 

The driver, identified by RCMP as a 60-year-old woman from Yellowknife, was arrested on scene on suspicion of impaired driving.

She was later tested on a breathalyzer and reportedly blew breath samples in excess of three times the legal limit.

The woman was charged with impaired driving offences, as well as four counts of assault with a weapon and mischief over $5,000 for the damaged caused at the hotel.

Ben Cox, chief operating officer of Nunastar Properties, which operates the Explorer Hotel, said everyone is thankful that the crash didn’t cause more harm than it did. 

He said contractors came quickly to deal with the damage, and the hotel has a secondary conference entrance so it was able to continue running.

“We obviously knew we needed a new front door because ours was laying about 10 feet into the lobby,” he said. 

“But it’s all patched up. We’re working on a temporary solution, and we’ll get new storefront doors within about eight weeks.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2025.