Limo driver charged with impaired after passengers take away keys: OPP

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Ten passengers in a limousine were concerned enough for their safety that they “forced” their driver to pull over while travelling on the Queen Elizabeth Way earlier this month.

Ontario Provincial Police said in a news release Tuesday that officers from the Burlington detachment were called just before 11 p.m. on July 11 to the Toronto-bound lanes of the QEW near Fifty Road in Hamilton. One of the passengers had reported “that they had forced the driver to pull to the shoulder and took away the keys to the vehicle as they believed that the driver was impaired,” OPP said.

Police noted that the driver of another vehicle had also called to report the “erratic driving” of the limo.

The OPP officers spoke to the passengers and the driver on the shoulder and then made an arrest, taking the man to the Niagara detachment for breath tests.

Police said there were no injuries or collisions involved.

Mathew Owusu-Afriyie, 64, of Toronto, is charged with operation while impaired — alcohol and drugs, operation while impaired — blood alcohol concentration (80 plus), and dangerous operation.

He was released from custody and is to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Hamilton on Aug. 22.