For many, St. Patrick’s Day comes hand in hand with excessive alcohol consumption. In Waterloo, this year’s event also brought a rash of impaired drivers to area roads.
Waterloo Regional Police say they made nine arrests on area roads over a nine-hour period extending from Friday evening into early Saturday.
A 53-year-old woman was the first to be arrested near Hespeler and Dunbar roads at around 7:45 p.m. on Friday.
Arrests would soon follow in Kitchener and Cambridge as well, with a 19-year-old man from Kitchener being found with several open beers in his vehicle when police pulled him over near Westmount Road and Chopin Drive at 1 a.m. on Saturday,
On Monday morning, police reported that they laid 15 drunk driving-related charges between 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 3:30 a.m. on Saturday.
They also issued a thank-you to the public for reporting some of the incidents and noted that people should call 911 if they spot a suspected drunk driver.