Sault woman charged with impaired driving, drove into fatal crash scene

Officers investigating a fatal hit-and-run collision on Highway 17 near Bruce Mines charged a woman who ignored the road closure, saying she was impaired.

A 42-year-old Sault Ste. Marie woman was driving west shortly after 1:30 a.m. Jan. 21 when she drove around a full-marked police car parked in the middle of the highway with its emergency lights flashing, Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Wednesday.

"Members from the OPP's traffic incident management enforcement team who were assisting with the investigation observed the car enter the collision scene and initiated a traffic stop," police said.

While speaking to the driver, the officer determined she had been drinking. She was arrested and taken to the Thessalon detachment, located 20 kilometres east, for further testing.

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The accused is charged with impaired driving, having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 80 or more, driving on a closed highway and driving a motor vehicle not equipped with an ignition interlock device.

People who have been convicted of impaired driving or suspended three or more times within a 10-year period for impaired driving offences are required to have an ignition interlock device installed in their car.

The vehicle will only start if the driver blows into the device and their BAC is under the preset limit of 0.02. The device will also prompt the driver for a breath sample at random times while the vehicle is running.

It is the first impaired driving charge laid by the East Algoma detachment this year, police said.

The woman's driver's licence has been suspended for 90 days and her vehicle impounded for seven days.

She is scheduled to appear in court March 2 in Elliot Lake.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.