Sparks
(And Dubious Claims) Fly After Impaired Driver Strikes Pole & Flees While
Missing A Tire
“I’ve never seen that truck before in my life!” – Impaired Driver
Immediately After Exiting The Crashed Truck
Victoria, BC – In a flurry of sparks and dubious
claims VicPD officers took another impaired driver off Victoria streets last
night – despite his assertions that he’d “never seen that the truck
before in my life”, uttered immediately after exiting the smashed vehicle.
Officers were on the lookout for the late model GMC truck
after the 911 switchboard lit up just after 12:30am, Monday, March 4. Citizens
reported the black truck had failed to negotiate the left hand turn at Douglas,
Hillside and Government and stuck a large, green metal pole at nearly 50km/hr.
The impact caused immediate and particularly noticeable damage to the truck and
deflated the left front tire. Undeterred, and showing poor judgment which
continued to be the driver’s theme for the evening, the driver continued on,
losing the tire.
Now on the rim, and throwing up a shower of sparks while
struggling to stay in control, the driver made his way onto the Pat Bay
Highway. Witnesses, in contact with the 911 Communications Centre, followed
along behind until responding patrol units met up with them. The sparks finally
subsided when the driver pulled off the highway and parked – on the sidewalk –
in the 4300 block of Crownwood Lane. The glowing rim was a dead give-away that
the vehicle had been recently driven.
The driver then exited the vehicle – leaving his female
passenger behind to fend for herself – and started to walk away. Officers
stopped him and asked him if he had a driver’s license. When he said he didn’t,
officers then asked him if his license was in the smoking, dented truck behind
him. The driver turned around, ‘surprised’ to see the smoldering hulk behind
him and exclaimed “I don’t know who’s truck that is. I’ve never seen that truck
before in my life!”
After refusing a breathalyzer and becoming verbally
abusive with officers, the driver was placed under arrest for intoxication in a
public place, served notice of the 30-day impound of his vehicle, as well as
the 90-day suspension of his license, and issued a ticket for Driving Without
Due Care and Attention and transported to cells. His luckily uninjured
date was driven home.
As visible in the attached photographs of the damaged
vehicle, this incident could have been much worse. The damage to the truck is
extensive. The impaired driver’s actions show not only a callous disregard for
his own safety, but also for the safety of his passenger and other drivers on
the road. While the driver in this case clearly hadn’t the message that
impaired driving will not be tolerated on Victoria and Esquimalt roads, VicPD
is glad that witnesses in this case not only called 911, but worked with
Communications Centre staff and Officers to ensure a safe resolution to this
incident.
If you see an impaired driver on the road, call 911
immediately. The life you save may be your own.
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