York Regional Police say a 28-year-old Newmarket woman is facing charges after allegedly being impaired behind the wheel, driving with no licence and a six-year-old child in the back seat.
Police said on Sept. 11 at around 10:28 p.m. officers received a 911 call from a concerned citizen for a suspected impaired driver in the Town of East Gwillimbury.
The suspect vehicle had allegedly almost hit another vehicle, police said.
Video from a police cruiser dashcam shows a vehicle with their four-ways on following the suspect vehicle. The police cruiser makes a U-turn and is able to stop the vehicle with the help of another police car near Yonge Street and Davis Drive in Newmarket.
The officer then asks the woman to step out of the vehicle.
Officer: “So, what’s going on today?”
Woman: “Um… they’ve been drinking, I’ve had two beers and that’s it. So I was just trying to drive them.”
Officer: “I can smell a lot of booze on your breath just from here.”
The police officers then direct the woman to the side of the road to conduct a breathalyzer test.
The officer then asks her what class of licence she has to which she replies:
“I don’t have a licence.”
Officer: “You don’t have a licence?”
Woman: “Like I said, I was just trying to drive them, cause they’re all… I was just trying to do the right thing.”
The officer then tells the woman she is under arrest for impaired operation of a motor vehicle due to failing the breathalyzer test. She is charged with impaired over 80 plus, driving a motor vehicle without a licence and “novice driver — blood alcohol concentration above zero.”
Police said in a news release that the 28-year-old woman was in the vehicle with two other adults, along with their six-year-old child.
No one was injured, police said.
York Regional Police said in 2019 their officers responded to 3,500 calls for suspected impaired drivers. In 2020, more than 2,000 calls have been made to 911 to report suspected impaired drivers.