In a video released by York Regional Police, officers arrest a 23-year-old woman from Vaughan, Ont., after a 911 caller reported an alleged impaired driver on the road.
Police said at 7:35 p.m. on June 4, a concerned citizen called 911 to report a suspected impaired driver in the area of Highway 7 and East Beaver Creek Road in Markham, Ont.
Caller: “Oh my god she’s about to hit a car! Oh my god she’s about to hit a car!”
Dispatch: “Appears to be a female driver. Vehicle is described as being all over the place.”
Caller: “Somebody needs to come get her because this is really bad.”
The video cuts to a view of the police cruiser dashcam, which shows an officer en route to the alleged impaired driver. The caller tells police the woman is now stopped just before Bathurst Street, along Highway 7 in Richmond Hill.
“Now she’s stopped the car completely,” the caller says to dispatch. “She is not moving because everyone is trying to block her from driving.”
Dispatch: “Any units on the impaired, I got several vehicles that have formed what in essence is a tandem stop around the subject vehicle just before Bathurst.”
In the video, a police cruiser arrives on scene where vehicles can be seen blocking the erratic driver.
Caller: “She is saying that she is on shrooms and some sort of other drug right now.”
Dispatch: “Female to be arrested at 19:41 … Thank you for the call. You guys did a good job I know that was stressful.”
Police said when officers saw the driver, she was showing obvious signs of being impaired by drugs.
Police said the driver told one of the concerned citizens that she had taken cannabis gummies and mushrooms before driving. Investigators added that cannabis gummies were also found inside the vehicle.
Officers then arrested the woman, and paramedics were called to the scene.
“The driver was so high she needed to be taken to hospital as a precaution,” police wrote at the end of the video.
The woman was later released from hospital with no injuries, police said. The 23-year-old woman was charged with impaired driving and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
Police said no one else was injured.
This is one of some 3,500 calls a year York Regional Police say they receive from concerned citizens about impaired drivers that save lives.