Man facing criminal charges in domestic dispute
On the evening of January 12, members of the Manitoulin detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received a report of a domestic dispute in Little Current.
The victim sustained minor injuries.
As a result of the incident, a 26-year-old Little Current man has been charged with the following: fail to comply with a recognizance, overcoming resistance to the commission of an offence, uttering threats, assault with a weapon and mischief.
The male was arrested and is in custody pending a bail hearing which was scheduled for January 16 in the Ontario Court of Justice in Gore Bay.
Four driving impaired charges laid on Manitoulin during OPP Festive Ride Campaign
Four drivers were charged with driving impaired due to the consumption of alcohol during the Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Festive RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) roadside checks this past holiday season, compared to two impaired driver charges laid on Manitoulin during the 2015 OPP Festive RIDE.
Festive RIDE checkpoints conducted by the OPP have become a familiar part of the holiday season and an effective counter measure to the road safety issue of impaired driving. Impaired driving remains the leading cause of criminal death in Canada.
One drink can reduce your ability to concentrate and slow your reaction time. The more alcohol in your blood, the more your ability to operate a motor vehicle is affected. Drivers who blow over the legal limit of .08, or who refuse a breath test, will have their driver’s licences suspended immediately for 90 days under Ontario’s Administrative Driver’s License Suspension Program.
This 90-day suspension is separate and distinct from any criminal charges. Immediate roadside suspensions of driver licences are issued by the OPP to drivers who register a blood alcohol concentration in the “warn range” of .05 to .08. Offenders will not be allowed to drive from that point on for a minimum of three days.
The Manitoulin OPP conducted the annual Festive RIDE campaign from November 22, 2016 to January 7, 2017. During the 2016-2017 campaign, 63 RIDE checks were set up. 1,163 vehicle drivers were checked by police. Of those drivers stopped at the RIDE checks, one was found to be impaired by the consumption of alcohol and charged accordingly. Two other drivers were charged with Highway Traffic Act offences.
Three other drivers were charged for impaired driving after police conducted traffic stops over the same period.
Manitoulin OPP Constable Steve Hart reported that during the OPP Festive RIDE program last year, from November 23, 2015 to January 2, 2016, there were two impaired driver charges laid by the OPP during checks. There was a roadside “warn range” suspension issued. Three vehicle occupants were charged under provisions of the controlled drugs and substances act.
While the OPP does increase the number of RIDE stops over the holidays, RIDE checks continue throughout the year. The OPP is reminding motorists that there is no safe amount of alcohol consumption when driving.
The OPP wrapped up its RIDE campaign on a sad note, with a total of six people losing their lives in impaired driving-related incidents over the seven-week period.
While all data is preliminary, five of the deaths involved a motor vehicle collision, with the sixth being off-road vehicle related.
Over and above these tragic, preventable deaths, many innocent road users were injured in some 270 OPP investigated collisions during the campaign in which an impaired driver was a factor.
OPP officers conducted more than 7,340 RIDE stop initiatives throughout the province, charging 610 drivers with impaired driving between November 21, 2016 and January 7, 2017.
OPP Drug Recognition Evaluators (DRE) also took part, laying drug-impaired driving charges to 22 of the 610 charged drivers. Through the OPP drug evaluation and classification program, DREs have the tools and expertise they need to test for and detect drug impairment in drivers.
During the campaign, an additional 388 drivers were issued warn range suspensions for driving with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) between .05 and .08-a BAC range that also impairs one’s ability to drive safely and poses a danger to other road users.
Heading into the new year, the OPP is reminding Ontarians that they all have a role to play in ending impaired driving-related deaths. Make a commitment to never drive after consuming alcohol or drugs. If you suspect that someone is driving while impaired, call 911 to report them to police. In doing so, you could be saving lives.
