Police say northern Ont. impaired driver stole a puppy and booze

A 29-year-old suspect has been charged after someone stole a puppy and several bottles of booze in Elliot Lake before speeding off in a pickup truck.

Ontario Provincial Police in partnership with the Treaty Three Police Service have charged a suspect with second-degree murder following an investigation in a remote Indigenous northwestern Ontario community. The back of a police vehicle with officers visible in the background. (File photo/Supplied/Ontario Provincial Police)

The incident took place July 18. Ontario Provincial police were alerted to an erratic driver on Highway 108 around 6:15 p.m.

Police received “multiple traffic complaints of a possible impaired driver that was operating a pickup truck and driving erratically and was unable to maintain its lane and speed on Highway 108 in the City of Elliot Lake,” the OPP said in a news release Friday.

“Members of the public reported the suspect vehicle had stopped on the highway, did a burn out and had almost ditched the pickup truck several times.”

The parked pickup was spotted near Depot Lake around 6:45 p.m. and the suspect was arrested. They refused to provide a breath sample at the Blind River detachment.

“Police received another call for service related to the driver who earlier had stolen a puppy and several bottles of alcoholic beverages from this complainant's residence,” the OPP said.

“Once the driver was processed, the puppy was returned to the owner in good health.”

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The suspect, who is from Bruce Mines, has been charged with impaired driving, refusing to provide a breath sample, two counts of theft and one count of assault.

The accused is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Elliot Lake on Aug. 14.

The pickup truck was towed and impounded for seven days. The driver was issued a 90-day driver’s licence suspension.