Impaired charge laid after driver goes around road-closed sign, plunges down hole

A 28-year-old from St. Thomas faces drunk driving charges after a vehicle drove around a road-closed sign and into a 3.6-metre-deep hole.

St. Thomas police responded to a crash on Sunset Drive around 9:30 pm Tuesday and found a vehicle had driven into a construction zone and hit an excavator blocking a hole.

The crash sent the excavator and the truck into the hole, police said.

The truck driver was out of the vehicle by the time officers arrived, police said. There were no apparent injuries.

A 28-year-old St. Thomas resident is charged with operation of a motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol, driving on a closed highway and driving while using a handheld device.

The accused was taken to police headquarters and released on an undertaking, St. Thomas police said.