On-duty Uber driver charged with impaired driving in York Region over holidays
An Uber driver was one of 22 people charged with impaired driving throughout the York Region during the holiday week between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, police said Tuesday.
In a news release, York Regional Police say on December 31 shortly after midnight, officers responded to Main Street in the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, located just over 40 minutes from Toronto, after a concerned citizen reported a possible impaired driver.
According to police, the suspect pulled into a parking lot at a location on Hoover Park Drive and was stopped by officers.
Officers learned that the suspect was an on-duty Uber driver who had attended the location to pick an Uber customer up.
The driver, 55-year-old Dennis Romanin from Whitchurch-Stouffville, was charged with impaired operation and having a blood-alcohol concentration over 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood.
Authorities also highlighted another incident that occurred just after 4 pm on Christmas Eve, when a witness called the police to inform them that a car pulled into his driveway and crashed into his house. When police arrived, they found a black Infiniti up against the corner of the home, with the driver apparently asleep with the car still running.
The driver provided a breath sample which read more than five times the legal limit, according to the release.
The driver was then taken to the hospital as a blood alcohol reading more than .300 is considered a potential “medical emergency.”
Artem Kulikov, a 29-year-old Vaughan man, was released from the hospital and charged with impaired operation and having a blood-alcohol concentration over 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood.
York police say the force has laid about 1,650 charges for impaired-related driving offences in 2018.
Seven people died on York Region roads this year in collisions where alcohol or drug impairment were considered contributing factors, police said.
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