York Regional Police have released a video that shows a father being arrested after he allegedly showed up intoxicated to pick his children up from school.
Police said on Wednesday, officers responded to a call from a concerned staff member at a Vaughan school who said a father was attempting to pick up his children while appearing to be drunk, just after 5 p.m.
Staff would not allow the man to take his children, police said, and the man drove away from the school. Officers found him and his vehicle at his home a short while later, where he was placed under arrest.
Police said the 38-year-old man blew more than twice the legal limit upon taking a breathalyzer test.
The video appears to show the officers arresting the man and placing him in the back of the cruiser, where he breaks down in tears.
“My just two-year-old just saw me going away in a cruiser,” the man can be heard saying.
“I don’t care if I gotta stay in there for three days just can you please just take care of my family,” he continued.
“Absolutely, that’s what matters to us, right?” the officer driving responded.
The incident comes almost four years to the day an impaired driver struck a vehicle, killing the lives of Daniel, Milly and Harrison Neville-Lake along with their grandfather Gary Neville.
“I am truly at a loss to understand how drivers continue to make the stupid and dangerous decision to drive while impaired, either by alcohol or drugs,” said Chief Eric Jolliffe. “our officers see this every single day.
“These selfish choices put our entire community at risk, including young children, as we have seen in this case.”
Police said more than 5,000 calls for impaired driving are received each year. In 2019, there has already been more than 4,200 calls, which has led to over 1,290 impaired-related charges.
However, police said since the horrific loss of the Neville-Lake family in September 2015, the number of impaired-related charges have not gone down year after year.
In 2016, there were 1,636.
In 2017, there were 1,649.
In 2018, there were 1,653.