drunk driver asleep york region

Video shows Ontario cops arresting drunk driver who passed out at the wheel

A concerned citizen's phone call to police led to a shocking impaired driving arrest just north of Toronto this week, and it was all captured on dashcam video.

York Regional Police received a call about a potentially impaired driver on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. after a concerned citizen spotted the driver of a black Honda CRV travelling southbound on Highway 400 in Vaughan, showing signs of impairment.

The citizen phoned in a report of the car being driven with its turn signal flashing after seeing it sideswipe multiple concrete barriers before pulling into a service station parking lot.

Several minutes later, a YRP #4 District officer arrived and found the vehicle still running, its passenger door open, and both the driver and passenger fast asleep.

The responding officer spoke with the male driver and alleges that he showed signs of alcohol impairment.

A video of the incident shows the resulting arrest by police, where the driver can be seen stumbling from the vehicle and slurring their speech while questioning the reason for their arrest.

The suspect was found to have a blood-alcohol concentration over five times the legal limit, and was charged with impaired operation.

To break down just how much alcohol was in this driver's bloodstream, the legal limit of 0.08 multiplied by five is 0.4, which brought the driver into the territory of potentially lethal blood-alcohol concentration.

This was, in fact, the second-highest blood-alcohol concentration recorded since the YRP began tracking these statistics, meaning that this driver was not only drunk — he was the second-drunkest arrest on record in York Region.

Due to the potentially deadly level of intoxication, the driver was transported to hospital and later released.

The 53-year-old driver from New Tecumseth was charged with Impaired Operation and Impaired Operation with Blood-Alcohol Concentration 80 Plus, his licence was suspended for 90 days, and his vehicle has been impounded for a week.

Lead photo by

York Regional Police


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