Drunk dad tried to pick up kids from school: York cops
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It’s been last call for drunk drivers for decades but the message is still falling on deaf ears.
Take a 38-year-old Vaughan man who was charged with impaired driving after he attempted to pick up his children from school while allegedly intoxicated.
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York Regional Police say that on Wednesday just after 5 p.m., a concerned citizen called police after witnessing a father try to pick up his young children from a Vaughan school.
But staff believed the man appeared to be hammered and would not allow his children to get into the vehicle.
Eventually, the dad drove away and cops picked him up a short time later at his home.
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He was placed under arrest and transported to #2 District Headquarters for a breath test, where police allege he blew more than twice the legal limit for alcohol.
“I am truly at a loss to understand how drivers continue to make the stupid and dangerous decision to drive while impaired, either by alcohol or drugs,” Chief Eric Jolliffe said in a press release.
In the cop cruiser, the suspect tells cops his “two-year-old just saw me going away with a cruiser.”
He continues, sobbing: “And I got three kids … so can you please just. I don’t care if I gotta stay in there for three days just can you take care of my family?”
The incident comes nearly four years to the day after the drunk-driving crash that killed Daniel, Milly, Harrison Neville-Lake and their grandfather Gary Neville.
But cops point out that despite that horrific collision, impaired driving charges keep climbing on a yearly basis.
“Our officers see this every single day. These selfish choices put our entire community at risk, including young children, as we have seen in this case,” Jolliffe said.
“Despite the fact, our message does not seem to be getting through, York Regional Police is not giving up. We will continue to fight this fight and we appreciate the vigilance of the community in alerting us to suspected impaired drivers.”
According to York cops, every year more than 5,000 people call 911 to report suspected impaired drivers.
This year, more than 4,200 calls have been logged to 911 resulting in 1,290 impaired-related charges being laid.
Since the Neville-Lake crash on Sept. 27, 2015, the number of impaired-related criminal charges laid each year has not gone down: 2016 – 1,636; 2017 – 1,649; 2018 – 1,654, and so far in 2019 – 1,295
The name of the driver charged Wednesday was not released.
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