NEWS RELEASE
TIMMINS POLICE SERVICE
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The Timmins Police Service has charged five persons with impaired driving - Criminal Code offences stemming from separate incidents that occurred since the 1st of February.
A Timmins Police Service officer responded to a disturbance in the Connaught Hill area during the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 6 and located a person operating a vehicle at the scene of the call for service.
An interview of the driver was completed by the responding Timmins Police officer.
Based on the observations made by the officer, the driver of the Nissan Titan was compelled to complete on site breath testing with the use of an Approved Screening Device.
The driver registered a fail and was subsequently arrested and taken to the Timmins Police station to complete further breath testing procedures.
As a result of the incident, Lynne Roy, 35, of Timmins, has been charged with:
- Impaired operation of a motor vehicle contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
- Operate motor vehicle – concentration in excess of 80 mgs of alcohol per 100 mls of blood contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
The accused was released from police custody on the strength of an undertaking compelling her to attend at Provincial Court in Timmins on to address the charges laid against her.
In a second incident, a Timmins Police Service officer responded to a vehicle in the ditch on Airport Road during the evening hours of Sunday, Feb. 14 .
The vehicle was located with the driver attempting to have the vehicle return to the roadway from the ditch.
Based on observations made by the officer, the driver of the Ford pickup truck was arrested and compelled to complete Intoxilyzer breath tests at the Timmins Police station.
Based on the outcome of those breath testing procedures, Vikas Sharma, 38, of Angus, Ont., has been charged with:
- Impaired operation of a motor vehicle contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
- Operate motor vehicle – concentration in excess of 80 mgs of alcohol per 100 mls of blood contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
The accused was released from police custody on the strength of an Undertaking compelling him to attend Provincial Court in Timmins on March 3 to address the charges laid against him.
In a third incident, a Timmins Police Service officer responded to a traffic complaint received during the early-morning hours of Monday, Feb. 15 on Hwy 101 near the Bruce Avenue interchange.
The vehicle was located by the Timmins Police and the driver was stopped and interviewed.
The Timmins Police officer noted that there was a can of beer in the vehicle’s cup holder.
Based on observations made by the officer, the standard breath demand was made of the driver.
The driver failed to comply with the lawful demand made of him.
As a result of the incident, Neal Neamtu, 44, of Timmins, has been charged with:
- Fail/refuse to comply with breath demand contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
The accused was released from police custody on the strength of an Undertaking compelling him to attend Provincial Court in Timmins on March 3rd to address the charge laid against him.
In a fourth incident, a Timmins Police Service officer responded to a call to assist EMS with an unconscious driver behind the wheel of a Honda Civic at a Riverside Drive strip mall during the early morning hours of Friday, February 19th .
Once on scene, the responding Timmins Police officer approached the vehicle and instructed the driver to shut off the ignition of the vehicle.
A more thorough interview of the driver was completed by the responding Timmins Police officer.
Based on the observations made by the officer, the driver was compelled to complete on site breath testing with the use of an Approved Screening Device.
The driver registered a fail and was subsequently arrested and taken to the Timmins Police station to complete Intoxilyzer breath testing procedures.
As a result of the incident, David Fink, 51, of Brampton, has been charged with:
- Impaired operation of a motor vehicle contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
- Operate motor vehicle – concentration in excess of 80 mgs of alcohol per 100 mls of blood contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
The accused was released from police custody on the strength of an Undertaking compelling him to attend at Provincial Court in Timmins on March 16h to address the charges laid against him.
In a fifth incident, while on patrol of the downtown core during the evening hours of Friday, Feb. 19, a Timmins Police Service officer observed a Ford pickup truck being driven in an erratic fashion on Algonquin Blvd.
The vehicle was followed and observed driving on the sidewalk of James Street before being eventually halted in the area of Sixth Avenue
An interview of the driver was completed by the investigating Timmins Police officer.
Based on the observations made by the officer, the driver was arrested and compelled to complete Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) testing procedures at the Timmins Police station.
A quantity of “pink” Fentanyl was located on the suspect’s person in the course of being searched incident to arrest.
Based on the outcome of the DRE testing procedures, Jason Thom, 47, of Timmins, has been charged with:
- Impaired operation of a motor vehicle contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada
- Possession of a controlled substance contrary to the Controlled Drug and Substances Act
The accused was released from police custody on the strength of an Undertaking compelling him to attend Provincial Court in Timmins on March 3 to address the charges laid against him.
This current trend is distressing to the Timmins Police Service. From an operational standpoint, the patrols focused on locating suspected impaired drivers and determining driver sobriety remains in place and intact as a vital aspect of law enforcement focused on community safety.
Year-to-date for 2021, out of 20 suspected impaired operation occurrences, ten persons are before the courts in regards to criminal charges laid against them.
Of those 10 persons, five of them have been charged since the beginning of February.
This sad total is comparable to similar numbers for the same time period for the year 2020 in terms of five persons being charged with Impaired Operation offences from Feb. 1, 2020 to Feb. 25, 2020 while only a single person was charged with this type of offence from Feb. 1, 2019 to Feb. 25, 2019.
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