The fourth and final impaired driver Sarnia police said they nabbed in a single day last month has already pleaded guilty.
Justice Krista Lynn Leszczynski, who imposed an $1,800 fine and a one-year driving ban, cautioned Linda Krieger drinking and driving is a serious offence.
“Because of the injury, damage and, at times, loss of life that occurs as a result,” the judge said.
The court heard Krieger crashed into another vehicle while driving on Durand Street around 8 pm on July 3.
“Which caused extensive damage to her front-right passenger tire,” assistant Crown attorney Meaghan Jones said while reading an agreed statement of facts. “She then left the scene of the accident and returned to her home.”
A witness followed her there that Sunday evening, got out and talked to her about the crash.
“She told him that she had been drinking and asked him not to call police,” Jones said. “He did.”
A Sarnia police officer arrived soon after and talked to the witness. During the discussion, the pair could see Krieger, 56, coming down a set of stairs through a window.
“While going down the stairwell, Ms. Krieger stumbled and had to hold onto the railing several times as she came down,” Jones said.
The officer could also smell alcohol on Krieger, who immediately admitted she’d made a mistake. She was arrested and taken to headquarters, where breath tests showed she had between 150 and 160 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood, about twice the legal limit of 80 milligrams.
“Which is aggravating,” Leszczynski pointed out.
Krieger pleaded guilty Monday to one charge of impaired driving.
“I just really wish I never would have done that,” Krieger told the judge as she became emotional. “I’m really sorry.
“And I’m very embarrassed. There’s nothing more I can say. I just have to accept what I’ve done.”
Defense lawyer James Guggisberg said his client was home that day having a few seltzers while she cleaned.
“She felt that she was drinking a refreshing beverage and didn’t appreciate just how the alcohol had accumulated in her system,” he said.
The minimum fine for a first-time impaired driver is $1,000. Guggisberg asked for a $1,500 penalty as, despite the crash, her client was pleading guilty about a month after the incident and had no prior criminal record.
“No prior driving history whatsoever,” he said.
Jones said the Crown was initially going to ask for a $2,500 fine since she left the scene of a collision, asked a witness not to call police, and had high test results, but decided to shave off $500 due in part to her quick guilty plea and limited financial situation.
Leszczynski said a message has to be sent to both Krieger and the rest of the community about the dangers of drinking and driving as she landed on $1,800, plus a victim-fine surcharge.
“I also have to take into account the fact that you left the scene after a collision,” she said.
A second charge was withdrawn.