A 35-year-old woman from Thompson was pulled over and arrested around 9:30 p.m. June 16 after police received a report of a possible impaired driver.
Thompson RCMP administered a test with a roadside screening device, which the driver failed, and she later provided breath samples more than three times the legal limit of blood alcohol content for people operating motor vehicles before being released to appear in court at a future date.
Though there were fewer impaired driving charges laid this May – 10 – than in the same month of 2019, when there were 15 such charges, Thompson RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Hastie told the city’s public safety committee at their June 11 meeting that there seems to be an upward trend though the first half of June.
“The last couple of shifts I’ve noticed an increase in impaired driving complaints,” he said. “We’ve arrested an impaired driver last night (June 10) and today as well during broad daylight, so that’s a concern. There’s a spike in that.”
Reducing the number of impaired drivers on the road is one of the Thompson RCMP’s five policing priorities for the upcoming year that Hastie outlined to the public safety committee in May.
