The St. Thomas Police saw a long weekend free of impaired driving charges until Monday afternoon when a 60 year old St. Thomas man received his 10th impaired driving offence. On both Saturday and Sunday, officers conducted R.I.D.E programs in the downtown core and north end of the city that saw approximately 250 vehicles checked, resulting in no impaired driving charges.
Around 1 p.m. on Monday police observed a vehicle that was driving southbound on First Avenue when it swerved into oncoming traffic directly into the path of a police cruiser. The officer avoided the collision and turned around to follow the vehicle. Police caught up with the driver as he attempted to merge onto the Highway 3 bypass, where he then crashed into the concrete barrier running along the on ramp.
The driver failed a standard field sobriety test and was arrested at the scene. Once at the police station the suspect was given an examination by a Drug Recognition Expert and as a result is now charged with Impaired Operations by Drug. The 60 year old was released on an undertaking with a court date and also had his vehicle towed and impounded.
