York Regional Police say a 33-year-old woman from Toronto is facing multiple impaired driving-related charges after a bizarre series of events recorded on a cruiser’s dashcam that captured the arrest.
It was at around 6:45 p.m. on June 24 when an officer patrolling near Clarence Street and Wycliffe Avenue, south of Rutherford Road, in Vaughan, when video released by the service on Friday appeared to show a motorist — who was travelling with two other passengers, including a five-year-old girl — driving through a stop sign.
The video jumps ahead and appears to show the driver travelling through a second stop sign before pulling over.
The officer can be heard explaining that he pulled the driver over for going through two stop signs, throwing litter out the window and said he could smell alcohol.
When he asked the driver about when she last had a drink, she could be heard on the video saying it was two hours earlier. The video then fast-forwards and it appears the driver was trying to show something to the officer.
“What I’m stopping to,” the woman can be heard saying.
“I asked you for your driver’s licence and you’re showing me a picture of J. Cole,” the officer responded.
“Oh, I’ll give you my driver’s licence, sorry,” she said before she was asked to exit the car.
The video fast-forwards again and the officer asked why the driver was showing him a map.
“That’s where I was stopping,” the woman said before the officer asked her what he was asking for initially.
“You told me to stop, right?”
The officer could be heard telling the woman she was being investigated for drunk driving while recapping what happened just before. She could be heard telling the officer she does indeed have a driver’s licence before appearing to show him something. The video skipped ahead and showed the woman being arrested.
“You’ve got a kid in the car for God’s sake,” the officer could be heard saying while handcuffing the woman.
Police said “luckily” no one was injured during the incident. Officers said the unidentified driver was charged with multiple offences, including impaired operation of a motor vehicle, having more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood and driving while under suspension. The allegations haven’t been proven in court.
Const. Laura Nicolle told Global News that impaired driving continues to be a major issue in York Region and even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Despite the lockdowns that we have just recently have seen, and bars and restaurants having been closed for many months, our impaired numbers have not decreased,” she said.
Nicolle added York Regional Police have increased traffic enforcement in an effort to crackdown on impaired driving.