Police in Haldimand and Norfolk had their hands full over the holiday weekend taking impaired drivers off the road.
Haldimand County OPP charged a 26-year-old Astorville man who allegedly was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Impala that hit a motorcycle on Highway 3 near Dunnville Saturday night.
The motorcyclist was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the crash around 11:25 pm on July 2.
The driver of the Impala is charged with operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm, driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood, and drug possession.
His driver’s license was suspended for 90 days and his vehicle was impounded for one week.
Meanwhile in Norfolk County, acting Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said police charged eight people with impaired driving, with the first arrests coming before dawn on Canada Day.
Around 3:25 am on Friday, OPP officers stopped a car on Highway 3 in Windham and charged a 31-year-old Norfolk man with driving while impaired by alcohol and drugs.
About an hour later, officers pulled over a vehicle on Radical Road near Port Dover and found the 20-year-old driver had a blood-alcohol level higher than the legal limit.
In Simcoe that night, a driver fled the scene of a crash on Oak Street. Police tracked the car to an address on Miller Crescent and arrested a 49-year-old Norfolk woman who stands charged with impaired driving and failure to remain at the scene of a collision.
“I’m absolutely dumbfounded,” Sanchuk said in a video posted to social media on Sunday.
“Sitting here shaking my head and just wondering why those individuals would not only put themselves at risk but put innocent motorists and pedestrians at risk.”
Norfolk police laid impaired driving charges against a 66-year-old Oxford County man on Saturday and three people on Sunday, two of whom — Norfolk men aged 23 and 25 — were pulled over on Turkey Point Road in the early-morning hours.
Just before 5:45 am on Sunday, officers nabbed a 25-year-old Mississauga man on St. Johns Road West in Woodhouse and charged him with impaired driving and several other Highway Traffic Act offences.
All the accused have court dates pending, and none of the charges have been tried in court.
JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.