Driver charged with impaired driving after fleeing crash scene
Emergency service members responding to a reported vehicle collision found themselves travelling beyond the crash site in order to locate the driver – who was later charged with impaired driving.
At approximately 10:45 p.m. on Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023, Kingston Police, Kingston Fire & Rescue, and Frontenac Paramedics were dispatched to the area of Bayridge Road just south of Woodbine Road in Kingston’s west end after emergency dispatchers received reports of a vehicle that had crashed into the ditch. The driver, however, did not remain at the scene of the collision, and police searched the area in an attempt to find them.
Those attempts proved fruitful less than 10 minutes later. According to those on the scene, an eyewitness to the crash as they were driving by was able to point Kingston Police officers in the direction the driver had fled on foot. Officers located the driver just south of where the vehicle and initial crash occurred.
According to Kingston Police, the driver was the lone occupant of the vehicle when the incident occurred and sustained minor injuries as a result. The driver was arrested, and then tended to by Frontenac Paramedics and transported to hospital, where they provided breath samples, Kingston Police said in response to Kingstonist inquiries.
“Upon arrival, officers located the motor vehicle facing east in a ditch on Bayridge Drive just south of Woodbine Road. Airbags had deployed inside the vehicle as a result of the collision,” Kingston Police said in a press release later in the day on Friday, Jun. 3, 2023.
The 32-year-old driver from Kingston was charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle, and operation of a motor vehicle while impaired with a blood alcohol concentration exceeding the legal limit. Their driver’s licence was automatically suspended for 90 days, with further suspension pending conviction. The vehicle was towed and impounded for seven days, and the driver will be responsible for all related fees and fines.