Barrie resident Robert Stratton and his family were coming back into the city after searching for property in Oro-Medonte Township last week when their afternoon excursion turned into some quick thinking and a call to 911 about an alleged drunk driver.
Stratton believes his interaction with police, which was captured on video and shared by Ontario Provincial Police, may have saved some lives.
At around 4 p.m. on June 17, Stratton noticed a car in front of him swerving from lane to lane, just missing guardrails and other vehicles. With Stratton driving, and accompanied by his wife and one daughter in the back seat, their 13-year-old daughter in the passenger seat took out her phone and started to record what happened next.
“We got my phone on speaker and called the OPP right away because we knew this guy was gonna kill someone,” Stratton said. “My daughter who wants to be an OPP officer said we needed video for the police for evidence, so I stayed with him at a safe distance. He was chucking beer cans out of the window and what the video didn’t catch was he almost drove under a transport truck trailer.”
The incident happened on southbound Highway 400 near Forbes Road heading into Barrie. And although Stratton knows the area well, it took him a minute to figure out exactly where they were.
“You can hear the operator ask me where I am and I wait for a location marker, but I knew it was close to Forbes Road. I was just so stunned,” Stratton said.
The driver was pulled over and arrested at the scene.
A 45-year-old man from Niagara Falls has been charged with impaired driving, over 80, and dangerous driving.
The video was uploaded to Stratton’s Facebook page and then shared by the OPP, drawing in a huge amount of views.
While many people are commending the family for what they did to help police, Stratton said there are some negative comments coming in, too.
“We’ve had a call and some comments saying I’m a rat and I should mind my business,” Stratton said. "I ain’t a rat. A rat is someone who speaks up when it serves their better interest. If being a rat is saving lives and getting a drunk driver off the road, then so be it."
None of the allegations against the suspect have been proven in court.
The video captures the conversation between Stratton and the 911 operator as he approaches an OPP officer who has pulled over another car for a traffic stop alongside the highway.
The Strattons slowed down and yelled at the officer about the driver they were following.
The officer then speeds off, catches up to the suspect car and pulls it over. The video shows a man being handcuffed.
“I’m glad there was an officer there because I knew that guy was approaching the (Highway) 400 cut-off into Barrie, where it gets really busy. I didn’t want to have to, but if I did, I was ready to catch up to him in my new F-150 and block him if I had to,” Stratton said.
“It worked out the way it was supposed to," he added. "Even for that lady who was pulled over, the officer waved her off, so she didn’t get a ticket that day.”
Stratton stayed with the officer and gave a statement. He also transferred the video to him on the spot.
Police told him the video would likely be used for OPP training on how to handle calls to 911, Stratton added.
Stratton said he's proud of how his family handled the incident and is happy so many people are sharing the video, but said he also gets a little friendly teasing about the commentary.
“Oh yeah, I’m a Newfie, you can tell in the video,” Stratton joked. “I see people talking about that and that’s OK. They’re having a laugh at it. We live in Barrie, but we keep going back home to visit so much so we’ll never lose the accent.”
