A drunk driver was attempting to become even more intoxicated before being intercepted by local police following a slow-speed pursuit.
Const. Steve Holmes said On Monday at 9:30 p.m., the unidentified 52-year-old Kelowna resident, who was already impaired by alcohol, decided to drive himself to a local liquor store to get more booze.
A Kelowna RCMP traffic member was parked on Roxby Road in Rutland when a blue GMC pick-up was seen pulling into the parking lot of the liquor store.
A man left the vehicle and went into the store. He emerged from the store a few minutes later, got into the truck and drove away.
“The officer followed the pickup and attempted to pull the vehicle over, to check the driver for a valid driver’s licence,” said Holmes. “After activating his emergency lights and siren, on his fully marked police cruiser, the officer realized that the vehicle was not pulling over.”
The officer followed the vehicle at a speed of 30 km/h, for two blocks before deciding to pull up beside the truck in order to get the driver’s attention.
“The officer found the driver’s side window of the truck rolled down and, despite the flashing emergency lights and the din of the wailing sirens, the driver continued to ignore the officer. The officer had to pull in front of the truck and bring it to a stop by slowing down the cruiser,” said Holmes.
While dealing with the driver, who was driving with a suspended driver’s licence, the officer noted obvious signs of alcohol intoxication. The driver was detained for an impaired investigation and taken to the Kelowna detachment to provide samples of breath.
“His breath samples were analyzed at almost three times the legal limit, and he now faces charges of driving while impaired, driving over .08, drive while prohibited and flight from police,” said Holmes.
The liquor control branch was advised of the fact that the driver had purchased liquor from a liquor store while he was intoxicated. Top of Page
