Saanich Police towed the vehicles of two different drivers on Friday night from the first half of a road block on Quadra Street at Inverness Road.
The road block was sponsored by ICBC and coordinated with the region’s Integrated Traffic Safety Unit as Victoria Police and other police held road blocks on Friday.
“We stopped hundreds of cars tonight,” said Sgt. Damien Kowalewich, who’s been part of dozens of road blocks in his career. “It’s hit or miss. You don’t always know how many people will be impaired. I’ve had nights where we pull over half a dozen impaired drivers quite soon.”
One woman in her 20s failed the standard field sobriety test and was served a 24-hour suspension that included having her car towed for drug impairment. The second car towed from Quadra and Inverness was a male who was driving his Cadillac SUV without a valid drivers license.
After pulling over, the male attempted to switch seats with the passenger, explaining that she did have a valid drivers license. However, Saanich Police discovered he was a prohibited driver and had his car towed, Kowalewich said.
Where do you plan on spending your time during the holiday season? If you’re driving drunk or high thru #Saanich #yyj it may be with us #yyjtraffic! Remember we’ll be out in full force checking for impaired drivers. Go ahead and get Blitzened… but plan for a #SafeRideHomeBC. pic.twitter.com/uWmmYmLSEN
— Saanich Police (@SaanichPolice) December 12, 2018
The Quadra stop was the first half of the night, from about 9 to 11 p.m. Following a short break the officers held another road block until 2 a.m. Two more cars were towed, including one from a prohibited driver, between midnight and 2 a.m. on Pat Bay Highway near Elk Lake.
Meanwhile it was a busy evening for Victoria Police who chose to live tweet the anticipated activity of the Friday night before Christmas. And they were right. Among the calls Vic PD attended to was to shut down a mass gathering of youths imbibing alcohol in Beacon Hill Park and to break up numerous altercations downtown, in addition to a series of impaired drivers who had their cars impounded.
Update on the Beacon Hill Park call. Officers are off w an estimated 30-40 youth. #VicPDLive
— Victoria Police (@vicpdcanada) December 22, 2018
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