Brittany Leppington admitted to a Sarnia police officer she had two drinks earlier that day in Grand Bend.
But after being caught sitting still in a live lane in Sarnia and then nearly backing into the officer’s cruiser, breath tests at headquarters showed Leppington was more than three times the legal limit.
“These were extremely high readings and very troubling that someone would get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle with those kind of readings,” David Rows, Lambton’s recently departed Crown attorney, said in a Sarnia courtroom.
Defense lawyer Nick Cake said his client was incredibly remorseful, but offered some context for what happened leading up to the early-morning Jan. 23 incident. Leppington, a 28-year-old Kirkton resident, was visiting family and friends in the Grand Bend area that Saturday and went for a drive afterwards to put things in perspective.
“She needed some time to think and some time to reflect on what had happened and obviously went about that in a very inappropriate manner, operating her motor vehicle with a blood alcohol reading that is essentially three times the legal limit,” he said.
Leppington, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single charge of being over the legal limit within two hours of driving and was fined and temporarily banned from driving, apologized to the court.
“I am truly very sorry and I am very thankful that nobody was hurt, including myself or anybody else,” she said. “I am truly sorry.”
The court heard a Sarnia police officer patrolling London Line around 1:30 am that Sunday passed a silver car still sitting in a live lane. The car then abruptly took off and slowly pulled into a motel parking lot as the officer turned around.
After a conversation with police during which Leppington seemed confused, the officer noticed a vodka soda can in the car. She admitted to the pair of drinks in the beach town, so the officer told her to get out of the car as she was under arrest.
“The female then put the motor vehicle into reverse, narrowly missing the police vehicle that was parked directly behind her,” Rows said while reading an agreed statement of facts.
Leppington managed to get the car back in park but refused to get in the back of the cruiser and kicked the door to keep it from closing. With Leppington finally secured in the backseat, the officers headed for headquarters.
During the trip, she told the officer she may have been lost.
“The officer noted that the accused could not carry on a conversation due to being intoxicated,” Rows said.
Tests were between 260 and 270 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams.
Justice Deborah Austin said the readings were very high so tacked $400 on top of the minimum $2,000 fine along with the mandatory one-year driving ban.
A second charge was withdrawn.