Owen Sound Man Charged With Impaired Driving After Second Call About Mobility Scooter
Officers first spoke with the man and left the scooter parked. A second call 30 minutes later ended in an arrest and two charges.
Owen Sound police have charged a 65-year-old city resident with two impaired driving offences after officers say he rode a mobility scooter away from a residence for the second time in half an hour on Sunday night.
Police say a member of the public called the Owen Sound Police Service at about 10:45 p.m. on August 9, reporting that a man who had been drinking was preparing to leave a residence on a mobility scooter.
Officers attended and spoke with the man, police say. According to the release, officers told him about impaired driving laws and the legal consequences of operating a mobility scooter while impaired, and he agreed to leave the scooter parked and make other arrangements, telling officers he would come back for it another day.
About 30 minutes later, police received a second report that the same man had returned to the residence and left on the scooter, police say.
Officers found him a short distance away in the middle of the roadway, drinking an alcoholic beverage, according to the release.
Police say a roadside screening test produced a fail reading, and that the man was arrested and taken to the police station, where further breath tests indicated his blood alcohol concentration was over the legal limit.
Police have charged the man with operation while impaired — alcohol, and operation while impaired — blood alcohol concentration over 80 mg, both under the Criminal Code.
He was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice later this month. Police did not name him and did not give the date of his court appearance.
Neither charge has been tested in court.
In the same release, the Owen Sound Police Service told the public that operating a mobility scooter while impaired by alcohol or drugs is a criminal offence in Canada, saying mobility scooters are motor-powered vehicles and are considered motor vehicles under the Criminal Code, so impaired driving laws apply to them the same way they apply to other motor vehicles.
Police thanked the public for reporting the incident and asked anyone who sees suspected impaired driving to report it.
Related:
