THUNDER BAY — It was a busy few days for the city police's traffic unit, as they responded to 10 impaired driving incidents over just nine days.
One notable incident involved an officer on duty on April 19 who stopped a vehicle for driving without insurance at 11:30 a.m. on the Harbour Expressway.
The officer observed open alcohol containers in the vehicle and proceeded to search the SUV.
The search revealed there were more open containers of alcohol.
During the investigation, the officer performed standardized field sobriety tests, and the female driver was arrested for impaired operation.
The suspect was also subject to an evaluation by a drug recognition expert, where it was concluded that she was under the influence of drugs.
Her licence was suspended for 90 days, and her vehicle was impounded for seven days.
The female driver was also charged with operating a motor vehicle with no insurance and with having an open container of liquor.
Police note that this arrest was part of a trend over the past few days, as it was one of 10 alleged impaired driving incidents over a nine-day period.
In a post on Facebook, city police reported that between April 11 and 19, TBPS arrested and charged eight drivers for impaired operation, six were allegedly impaired by alcohol, and two by drugs.
Additionally, officers issued two three-day driver's licence suspensions as warnings for drivers with a blood alcohol concentration between .05 and .08 per cent.
"This is a concerning trend," police noted at the end of the post, "and Thunder Bay Police will continue conducting proactive traffic enforcement and impaired driving enforcement to address this concerning issue."
