NEWS RELEASE
YORK REGIONAL POLICE
*************************
York Regional Police has charged a 32-year-old woman from Vaughan after a concerned citizen called 9-1-1 to report a suspected impaired driver. On Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, shortly before 5 p.m., York Regional Police received a call from a concerned citizen to report a suspected impaired driver in the area of Bathurst Street and Highway 7 in the City of Vaughan.
Police were advised that there was a sport utility vehicle swerving all over Bathurst Street and striking the curb. Officers located and stopped the vehicle westbound on Centre Street, in the area of Vaughan Boulevard.
Officers found that the driver of the vehicle was showing signs of being impaired by alcohol and open cans of beer were found in the vehicle. Officers also discovered a nine-year-old boy in the back seat who was not wearing a seat belt. The driver was placed under arrest.
As the investigation continued, officers found that the driver was on her way home where her three-year-old child had been left unattended. Officers attended the residence and found the three-year-old child at home alone, but in good health.
The children were turned over to their father and the Children’s Aid Society was contacted and has been engaged in this ongoing investigation.
The driver was transported to #4 District Headquarters for a breath test, which she failed.
A 32-year-old woman from the City of Vaughan has been charged with:
- Impaired driving
- 80 plus
- Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle
- Criminal negligence
- Abandon child under 10 years
In 2019, York Regional Police received 3,500 calls to 9-1-1 reporting suspected impaired drivers as part of our Safe Roads, Your Call program. That was an increase of nearly 18 per cent from the previous year. Many of those calls led to the more than 1,700 impaired-related criminal charges laid. If you see dangerous driving on the road that could jeopardize the safety of motorists and pedestrians, you are encouraged to call 9-1-1 immediately.
York Regional Police continues to remind residents that the safest amount of alcohol or drugs to consume before you drive is zero.
We’re not giving up.
*************************
