A 32-year-old Keswick man has been charged with impaired driving and South Simcoe Police say it’s the second time in less than a month the accused was pulled over for the same offence.
Police said officers were called at around 4:30 p.m. on Monday by a resident about a male driver in a parked vehicle on 10th Sideroad in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Sgt. Debbie Smith told Global News the resident noticed the vehicle was at the side of the road for about an hour and a half.
“When officers arrived, they had a hard time waking him up and getting his attention,” Smith said, adding officers saw open alcohol in the vehicle.
Officers administered a roadside alcohol screening test and he was arrested. After he was taken to a police station, officers said it was determined he had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
As the investigation continued, Smith said officers learned the man’s driver’s licence was suspended twice before. The first suspension was for unpaid fines and the second suspension, which was for 90 days, was in place after the accused was charged with impaired driving in late October.
Police said the man, who hasn’t been identified, was charged with having more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, impaired care or control of a motor vehicle, driving while under suspension, and having care or control of a motor vehicle with open liquor. The man had his licence suspended again.
The accused was held in custody pending a bail hearing on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Smith thanked the resident for tipping off police.
“We certainly thank our citizen who called in and helped us keep our community safe because without them, a lot of these incidents would go unnoticed and unaware by police,” she said.
“Thankfully in the situation yesterday nobody was hurt … it’s very alarming that this is somebody who has been involved now twice with impaired driving charges. The message clearly doesn’t seem to be getting out there.”
Smith encouraged residents to be cognizant of their surroundings and to not hesitate calling police.
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