Sudbury police charge seven with impaired driving over long weekend

OPP Sgt. Kyle Arnold urges caution as Road Safety Week runs through the long weekend & Safe Boating Week begins. Give safety tips for everyone.

Seven people were charged with impaired driving in the Sudbury area over three days on the long weekend, including several repeat offenders.

Three drivers were charged with drug-impaired driving in and around the downtown area.

Drug-impaired driving

The first suspect was pulled over due to an expired vehicle permit just after 5 p.m. May 16, Sudbury police said in a news release Tuesday.

Detecting signs of impairment, officers conducted a field sobriety test on the 26-year-old man, who “performed poorly.”

“A drug recognition expert determined that the driver was impaired by drugs,” police said.

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Later that evening, a complaint about a driver using drugs in a vehicle at a Kathleen Street business led to a 43-year-old man being charged with impaired operation and possession of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Acting on a complaint about a suspected impaired driver around 5:10 p.m. Sunday, police pulled a driver over and found the 36-year-old man was impaired by drugs.

Over the limit

Four more drivers were charged later Sunday night with drunk driving, three in less than an hour.

Around 7:45 p.m., a 41-year-old woman was charged with having a blood alcohol concentration of more than 80 mg in the community of Worthington, west of Whitefish.

A complaint about an impaired ATV driver in Falconbridge around 8:30 p.m. led to charges against a 37-year-old man, including operation while prohibited.

Five minutes later, police received a complaint about a driver in Val Caron.

“Officers arrived in the area and located the motor vehicle pulling into a residence,” police said.

“A traffic stop was conducted where officers detected signs of impairment.”

Repeat offenders

While the 76-year-old man’s breath sample showed a blood alcohol concentration in the “warn range” of 50 mg, it was his third time it happened, so his license has been suspended for 30 days.

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The seventh and final person to be charged with impaired driving last weekend was a 45-year-old man.

Police received multiple complaints about an erratic driver in Val Caron around 11:35 p.m. Sunday.

Once the vehicle was found, officers witnessed it being driven across the centre line several times and swerving.

When the driver was pulled over, police found an open alcohol container inside the vehicle.

He failed the roadside breath test and was found to be “well above the legal limit” when brought to police headquarters.

In addition to impaired driving, the man was also charged with driving while prohibited and under suspension.

“As this was the second time the driver had been arrested for impaired operation in less than two months, he was held overnight and attended weekend and statutory holiday (WASH) court,” police said.

“Every driver charged with impaired operation over 80 or deemed impaired by a (drug recognition expert) had their licence suspended for 90 days, and their vehicle impounded for seven days.”

Most of the suspects were released from custody and given a future court date.