Skip to content

Drunk behind the wheel three times in seven days

Kelowna RCMP wait three weeks to tell the public about a driver whose behaviour the force admits was 'concerning.'
5539kelownaRCMPcrest-webcopy
Three weeks after apprehending a serial drunk driver

Three time may be a charm is somethings - but not when its the number of times you are stopped by police for alleged drunk driving.

A Kelowna driver is facing numerous charges after being stopped three separate times within a seven-day period for allegedly being drunk behind the wheel.

According to Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Jesse O’Donaghey, on May 16 at 10 pm, police received a report of a suspected impaired driver in a white 2016 Hyundai Elantra at a gas station on Glenmore Road. The officer who went to the scene detected signs and symptoms of what O’Donaghey called "obvious" alcohol impairment exhibited by the driver and the man was taken into custody without incident.

While the incident occurred three weeks ago, the Kelowna RCMP only made it public on Friday. No reason was given for the delay in reporting it.

Back on May 16, at the Kelowna RCMP detachment , the driver provided breath samples that were four times higher than the the legal limit.

“What’s concerning to the RCMP is that the same driver had been investigated on May 13 for impaired driving. At that time he provided breath samples at twice the legal limit,” said O’Donaghey. “Furthermore, on May 9, the same driver had been stopped by police and found to be impaired by alcohol where he failed a roadside screening device.

The man was issued a 90-day immediate roadside prohibition under the Motor Vehicle Act at that time.

After the third incident, the driver, a 53-year-old Kelowna man, was held in police custody to appear in court.

He faces several potential charges including impaired operation of a motor vehicle, impaired operation while over .08 and multiple counts of driving while prohibited.