Police in York Region have released a video showing the arrest of a suspected impaired driver on New Year’s Eve and say nearly 1,900 impaired-related charges were laid last year.
The video released on Wednesday shows officers stopping a vehicle along the King-Richmond hill border near King Road and Bathurst Street on Dec. 31.
The footage of the incident from the dashcam of a police cruiser captures a vehicle driving slowly in the opposite lanes of traffic. The cruiser turns around and pursues the driver until the vehicle comes to a stop on the yellow line in the middle of the road.
Police say fluids were seen leaking from the vehicle and all four tires were severely damaged.
An officer can be seen approaching the drivers side and asking for the window to be rolled down.
“I’m good, man,” says the driver.
“You’re not good, man,” replies the officer. “I think you’re pretty drunk or pretty high right now.”
The driver tells the officer he was on his way home from a friends party and says he was aware of the damage to his vehicle.
“I do believe that you’re impaired based on all the driving evidence I’ve seen,” says the officer. “Because one does not just drive over a curb and destroy their car, right?”
Police say breath samples from the driver were found to be over the legal limit. He is facing several charges including impaired operation and two counts of driving while prohibited.
“What more damage might this drunk driver have caused had he not crossed paths with an officer,” asked YRP in a post on X.
More than 1,300 people were charged with impaired driving in 2023. The number marks a roughly 6 per cent drop from the previous year, but police say they are still charging more than three impaired drivers a day in the region.
During this year’s Festive RIDE campaign, running from Nov. 16 to Jan. 1, York police say a total of 170 drivers were charged with 242 impaired-related offences.
“Impaired driving remains the leading criminal cause of death in Canada and it will not be tolerated in York Region,” says York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween.