Sunday morning July 29th, just before 3am, a Saanich officer had occasion to stop a motorist in the 4200 block of the Pat Bay highway. As it turned out, the driver was suspected of being impaired.
The officer learned that the 24 year old female driver from Vancouver, had left a wedding reception in the Prospect Lake area. Despite there being a shuttle service for attendees, she decided to chance navigating her 2011 Jeep Liberty downtown while impaired. Unfortunately, she got lost.
She then stopped at some unknown convenience store in an attempt to seek directions. As luck would have it, a male patron in the store who was going in the same direction suggested that she follow him.
Both vehicles ended up on the Pat Bay highway heading southbound. The Saanich officer’s attention was drawn to them as they were driving 50-60kmh down the highway. Apparently the lead car had to slow down dramatically as the Jeep was driving so slowly.
The officer followed both vehicles and saw that the Jeep was drifting over the lines and off the roadway. Believing she may be intoxicated, the officer put on his emergency lights. The Jeep continued and took several blocks and the emergency siren before it pulled off the road.
When approached the driver smelled of alcohol and had difficulty turning the car off and remove the keys. The driver was arrested for impaired driving and was returned to the Saanich Police headquarters for breath tests. The results showed blood alcohol in the range of three times the legal limit.
The 24 year old Vancouver resident now faces impaired driving related charges, she had her vehicle impounded and her license suspended.
When she was picked up by an adult male relative, he made the comment: “Wow, you beat me!” when he found out the test results.
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