Yellowknife RCMP are investigating four individuals for impaired driving in one day.
They were all found to be driving under the influence on Jan. 23, 2021, less than a month since the RCMP launched Operation Gingerbread, an annual holiday campaign discouraging drinking and driving.
“The public seems to have quickly forgotten the dangers of operating a vehicle while impaired and the potential criminal charges they may face,” RCMP spokesperson Marie York-Condon said in a news release Wednesday.
Three of the four individuals are facing charges, with one person owing fines surpassing $2,500. When charges of impaired operation of a motor vehicle are laid, an automatic drivers licence suspension is also imposed.
The first charges were laid when RCMP were called for a traffic complaint around 12:30 a.m. and noted impaired driving as a potential cause for the call. An investigation is still ongoing.
Police later noticed a 45-year-old man in the driver’s seat of a parked running vehicle at approximately 1:30 a.m. The man’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit and the man was charged.
Later that morning, police received a complaint of a possible abandoned vehicle at approximately 10:50 a.m. An investigation linked the vehicle to a one-car accident from the previous evening. The driver, a 20-year-old woman, was charged with operation while impaired of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of motor vehicle and failure to stop after accident.
She is being fined $2,530 for operating a vehicle without a valid registration, without a valid driver’s license and without valid certificate of financial responsibility.
At approximately 2:15 p.m. that afternoon, RCMP conducted a traffic stop. A 38-year-old man was found to have consumed alcohol. He was brought to the Yellowknife detachment and charged.
“Unfortunately, operating a motor vehicle while impaired continues to be a regularly occurring crime in our city, and we are urging people to reconsider getting behind the wheel,” Insp. Dyson Smith, commander of the Yellowknife Detachment stated in the release.
“Impaired driving is avoidable, simply choose another way to get home safely. Your loved ones will thank you for it.”
If you see a suspected impaired driver or suspicious activity, call your local RCMP detachment, for Yellowknife 669-1111, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or text: “nwtnutips” plus your message to 274637.