Three police incidents, two impaired charges, one northern Ont. woman

A Timmins woman is at the centre of three incidents that took place within 48 hours of each other earlier this month, including a police chase and two occurrences of impaired driving, police said.

During the early morning hours on March 8, the Timmins Police Service responded to a call from a concerned citizen regarding a woman behaving erratically at the airport before driving away in a pickup truck.

“(An) officer observed the vehicle being driven in an erratic fashion on Airport Road in Timmins,” police said in a news release late Wednesday.

Police initiated a traffic stop and the officer noted obvious signs of impairment, according to the release.

“Based on the observations made by the officer,” said police.

“The driver of the vehicle was arrested and taken to the Timmins Police station to complete Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) testing procedures.”

As a result of the testing, the 32-year-old woman from Timmins was charged with impaired driving and driving a motor vehicle with cannabis readily available. A 90-day administrative driver’s licence suspension was also issued.

The accused was then released from police custody on an undertaking and she was scheduled to appear in court on April 4 to answer to these charges.

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The next evening, an officer on patrol in a marked police vehicle was traveling west on Highway 101 between South Porcupine and Schumacher when a driver passed the police vehicle at a high rate of speed by entering the oncoming lane.

“(The) officer followed the vehicle for a period of time with its emergency lights in full use,” said police.

“The officer elected to abandon the pursuit for public safety reasons.”

The driver, the same 32-year-old woman, was later located by Timmins police during another incident later in the evening on March 9.

As a result of the incident on Highway 101, she was charged with both flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and driving with a suspended licence.

“A third separate incident transpired shortly after the second incident, later the same evening of March 9,” said police.

“Where a separate concerned citizen reported to police that a woman was acting in an erratic fashion in the McChesney Road area of Timmins.”

The officer responding to the report located the woman behind the wheel of a running vehicle.

The woman was interviewed by the officer and based on their observations arrested and taken to the station to again complete DRE testing.

As a result, the accused is facing additional charges of impaired driving, driving a motor vehicle with cannabis readily available and driving with a suspended licence.

The accused was again released on an undertaking and is scheduled to appear in court on March 21 to answer to the additional charges.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

Police said any time anyone sees a driver who may be impaired, call 9-1-1 immediately and police will investigate; police have specially trained officers at the ready to determine if a driver is high or drunk.

“The Timmins Police Service appreciate being notified about incidents of suspected impaired driving,” police said in the release.

“Local roadway safety is enhanced based on the actions of these citizens who reported their suspicions without delay.”

This news comes as the Timmins Police Service has noticed a significant increase in the number of motorists getting behind the wheel drunk or high.