OPP report multiple weekend impaired driving incidents

A breathalyzer test indicates a fail in this undated file image.

It has been a busy 48 hours for police in dealing with allegedly impaired drivers on Simcoe Muskoka roads.

OPP detachments in the region report that they responded to three separate incidents between Friday and Saturday where drivers were charged with offences related to impaired driving.

Driver allegedly impaired by drugs

According to Southern Georgian Bay OPP, dispatchers received a call at around 11 a.m. on Friday leading officers to enter an impaired driving investigation at a Yonge Street address in Midland.

Police say officers stopped a suspect vehicle in the parking lot at the address and began investigating the driver for drug-related impaired driving shortly after speaking with them.

The suspect driver was transported back to the detachment, where police say a drug recognition expert officer helped conclude the investigation.

The 41-year-old driver from Midland was charged with impaired operation (alcohol and drugs) and dangerous operation.

They were released from custody and are scheduled for a court date in early April. Their licence was suspended for 90 days and their vehicle was impounded for seven days.

Youth driver charged

According to Bracebridge OPP, a detachment officer was patrolling roads in the Bracebridge area at around 3 a.m. on Saturday and stopped a vehicle on Highway 11 south near Cedar Lane.

Police say the officer began an impaired driving investigation with the driver, a 16-year-old from Bracebridge.

The driver was subsequently arrested and charged with failure or refusal to comply with a demand. The passenger, an 18-year-old Burks Falls man, was charged for allegedly consuming alcohol under the age of 19.

Bracebridge OPP confirmed that refusing or failing to comply with a demand in an impaired driving investigation carries the same consequences as an impaired driving/over 80 charge.

The accused driver had their licence suspended for 90 days and vehicle impounded for seven days. They are scheduled to appear in a Bracebridge youth court in early April.

Driver charged after alleged brief chase

Bracebridge OPP also reports that, just before 11 p.m. on Friday, a detachment officer was patrolling in Gravenhurst and became concerned about the driving of a motorist on Winewood Avenue.

Police say the officer followed the vehicle on Bethune Drive and Industrial Drive attempting to conduct a traffic stop, before the vehicle eventually came to a stop near a Forest Glen Drive residence.

The 23-year-old driver from Orangeville was subsequently arrested and charged with multiple offences.

The charges include impaired operation, blood alcohol concentration over 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres, dangerous operation, flight from a peace officer, controlling a vehicle with an open container of liquor and disobeying signs.

The accused is scheduled for a Bracebridge court date in late April. His licence was suspended for 90 days and his vehicle was impounded for seven days.