A Long Way from Home and his Lawyer

This past Tuesday morning at 3:14 a.m. police received a report that an impaired driver had crashed his truck after driving off the road on 51st Avenue West across from the Ramada Inn. When police arrived on scene they found a white 2012 Dodge Ram had plowed through the Agat Environmental Labs yard. The truck threaded the needle between a power pole and the Agat Environmental Storage shed behind the main building and ran head on into a fully loaded pallet next to the storage shed, which brought the truck to a complete stop.
Apparently not realising he was not going anywhere, the driver of the truck made several attempts to extricate himself from his predicament by stepping on the accelerator. This succeeded only in digging some really very nice deep ruts that made his situation worse. Police removed the extremely intoxicated driver from the vehicle and assisted him in walking over to the police truck for the trip to the police office.
Once at the police office, the 47-year-old Chilliwack man, who could barely walk or talk, mumbled to police he wished to speak with a lawyer.
Being somewhat concerned about his health due to his advanced state of intoxication, police called Emergency Health Services to attend the police office to check the man’s physical condition. EHS attended the police office, checked the man over, and advised that other than the obvious his health was okay.
As is required, police contacted the legal aid lawyer as the driver requested and seated him in the private telephone room. Unfortunately, while speaking with the lawyer, the man decided to take a nap. He dropped the phone receiver and nodded off to sleep.
Police opened the door of the private phone room, picked up the receiver, and spoke to the legal aid lawyer who was on the other end of the line probably wondering what happened to his client. Police explained the situation to the lawyer, advising they would give it one more try if he wished. Police woke the man up and this time put him on the speaker intercom with his lawyer before leaving the room so he could speak with his lawyer in private.
Unfortunately within 60 seconds the poor fellow was fast asleep again, only this time he fell off his chair onto the floor. Police once again opened the door and advised the lawyer his client was asleep once again. In the end even though the police were able to wake the driver up and keep him somewhat awake, they were unable to obtain the desired breath samples as one of the necessary requirements in providing breath samples is you have to be able to stand on your own two feet without being held up. Falling over while providing breath samples is not an option as the breath sample tube is only 18 inches in length, not quite long enough to reach the floor.
This type of drinking driving situation is exactly why the police and most other responsible safety-conscious folks have little or no tolerance for impaired drivers. The positive aspect in this particular case is that no one was injured or killed. The aggravating aspect is that this fellow is the holder of a Class 1 driver’s licence, which permits him to drive commercial large trucks, including semis.
Police would like to remind everyone with the arrival of the Christmas Season so arrives the annual year end Drinking Driving Counterattack Program. Police will be operating road checks throughout the Christmas and New Year season looking for impaired drivers.
Shortly after midnight November 23rd police received a report that a person had been injured at a residence on Dene Etene Road.

Police responded immediately to the residence where they found a 37-year -old Fort St. John man with a 3-inch long laceration down the side of his face. When the police suggested he go to the hospital the man refused advising police he was okay and was not going to speak to them about his injury. With a non-cooperative victim and no apparent witnesses to this event police have concluded their investigation.

Not a good idea to drive like this
A couple of hours later while police were making their rounds they discovered a white 2003 Ford F 150 truck parked in the Ramada Inn parking lot with the motor running and the driver slumped over behind the steering wheel. Police knocked on the driver’s window waking the lone occupant of the vehicle, once awake the 32-year-old Fort Nelson man told police he was going to drive home. However judging from the odor of liquor on the man’s breath and within the vehicle it was highly unlikely the man would be driving anywhere
This was confirmed when the fellow provided two roadside breath samples both resulting in a warning indication. As a result police issued the fellow with a 3 day Immediate Roadside Prohibition from driving impounding his vehicle for 3 days at the same time.

A nice warm place to kip?
Friday afternoon November 23rd at 1:32 p.m. police made a trip over to the McDougal Apartments to scoop up a fellow having a snooze in the hallway. When police arrived they located the very intoxicated 24-year-old Fort Nelson man laying at the foot of an apartment door on the second floor sound asleep. Police woke the intoxicated fellow helping him to his feet where they discovered he did not reside in the building and was in no condition to look after himself. Police arrested the – man for public intoxication transporting him to the police office where he remained until he was sober.
Early Saturday morning at 1:51 a.m. police were busy removing another impaired driver from the road. After stopping the white 2007 GMC Sierra pickup truck on 44th Street police noted the odor of liquor on the driver’s breath as they spoke to her. When asked about this the 20-year-old Fort Nelson woman driving told police she had recently consumed one beer. Police obtained two roadside breath samples from the young woman both of which resulted in a failure indication. As a result police issued the – woman with an Immediate Roadside Prohibition from driving impounding her vehicle for 30 days and serving her with a traffic ticket for failing to display her New Driver N sign on the back of the vehicle.

Bloodied and badly bruised
Monday morning November 26th around 2:20 a.m. police were called to a residence on Dene Etene Road after receiving a report from a person stating that one of his neighbors had come over to his house asking him to call an ambulance. Police quickly attended to the residence where they found two intoxicated male adults laying on the living room floor covered in blood. One of the males a 42-year-old Fort Nelson man was found covered in blood with badly bruised and swollen face. The other male, 32-years, from Fort Nelson was found laying under a table nearby and also covered in blood. Police noted the knuckles on the right hand were bloodied and swollen suggesting he was recently engaged in a fight.

While inside the residence police located the intoxicated 25-year-old female who had run to her neighbours requesting he call an ambulance.
While speaking with the female, police noted she to also appeared to have some minor facial injuries consisting of a scrape, bruising and blood.
Emergency Health Services attended to the scene transporting the 42-year-old man to hospital where he remained to be treated for his injuries. Police arrested the 32-year-old man and 25-year-old woman for assault transporting them to the police office where they were lodged in jail.
Sometime later in an effort to determine exactly what they believed happened inside the residence they attempted to speak to the two adults in custody, however both refused to cooperate in anyway with police and tell them what happened. When police attended to the hospital and questioned the 42 year old man about his injuries he also refused to tell the police anything telling police nothing happened.