Just before midnight on Friday, June 9, 2023, an officer with the BC Highway Patrol CRD – Integrated Road Safety Unit (IRSU) was conducting patrols in Saanich when he stopped a vehicle in the 4000 block of Cedar Hill Cross Road to check the sobriety of the driver.
The officer formed grounds to demand a roadside breath test and presented the alcohol screening device to the driver. Suddenly and without notice, the driver started his vehicle and accelerated away, which pulled and then knocked the officer to the ground.
A responding Saanich Police officer witnessed the incident and, after ensuring the injuries to the IRSU officer were not life-threatening, followed and attempted to stop the vehicle as it sped away. The driver stopped their vehicle at the bottom of a dead-end street, got out and ran into a park. Officers attempted to locate him inside the park but were unable to.
Likely as a result of his impairment, the driver may have forgotten that he had given his driver’s licence to the initial officer, which contained important personal information such as his home address.
Officers attended his home and found him inside. The driver, a 33-year-old man, was arrested and is now facing six recommended charges, including assaulting a police officer with a weapon, operation of a motor vehicle while impaired, flight from police, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm, fail to remain at the scene of a collision, and fail to provide a breath sample.
The IRSU officer was treated medically at the scene and he is expected to make a full recovery.
File 2023-10415
Cst. Markus Anastasiades
Public Information & Communications Officer
media@saanichpolice.ca