York Regional Police say a man and a woman are facing impaired driving charges after they both allegedly drove a car while in the driver’s seat, crashing into a pole and leaving debris scattered along a road.
Police said in a statement that officers were called to the area of Regency Gate and Franklin Avenue, near Bathurst and Centre streets, just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday with reports of a car crash. After police arrived, the statement said a man and a woman were found standing near a damaged car and two open cans of beer were found behind the vehicle.
“Officers learned that both the male and the female had been seated in the driver’s seat and were both operating the vehicle when it left the roadway, collided with the pole and was then driven further down the road,” police said.
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Officers released an edited dashcam video captured in the cruiser. An officer can be seen in the video questioning the man, who initially declined to give a statement. The tape appears to cut a few minutes ahead and the man was asked how the woman got into the driver’s seat.
“She jumped over from the passenger’s seat to the driver — let’s go,” the man can be heard saying in the video, noting he didn’t want to “do this” and was willing to pay for an Uber.
The man was asked by the officer where he was going.
“I was sit–she was sitting on top of me, where am I going to go? Literally, like I’m sitting there and she jumped on top of me. I’m in the driver — nothing, nowhere, let’s go, OK let’s go … and then she drove off,” he said.
“With you still in the driver’s seat?” the officer asked.
“Mhm… and her on top of me.”
Police said the pair were taken to a station and given a breath test, noting both failed the tests.
A 31-year-old Markham man and a 26-year-old Newmarket woman were charged with impaired operation of a vehicle, having more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
Officers encouraged people to call 911 about suspected impaired drivers, noting more than 1,200 related charged have been laid so far in 2019.
“We consider these incidents life-threatening crimes in progress and will continue to respond to these calls,” police said.
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