Impaired hit-and-run driver may have also violated Quarantine Act: VPD

Vancouver Police are investigating a hit-and-run incident involving an impaired driver who may have also violated the Quarantine Act.

According to VPD, the incident took place just after midnight on Tuesday when a Porsche was seen speeding northbound on Clark.

In a release, police said the female driver of the vehicle failed to stop for a red light at East Hastings, then stopped in the middle of the intersection, backed up, then took off again.

She “side-swiped another vehicle, and carried on northbound to Powell, where she tried to make a right turn at high speed,” police said.

The Porsche crossed the westbound lanes and collided with a metal lamp post, coming to a resting point in the middle of Powell and blocking both directions of traffic.

“Debris from the front end of the car covered the road,” police said. The driver of the vehicle that was side-swiped stopped to help the woman from her car.

The woman “appeared to be intoxicated and there were numerous bottles of alcohol in the car,” police said. “Once she was able to stand, she fled on foot.”

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Police traced the vehicle owner’s address to a home in North Vancouver, where they arrested a 30-year-old woman they believe was the driver. The woman, who was an unlicensed driver, was taken to the North Vancouver RCMP detachment, where she provided a breath sample three times the legal limit.

“During the testing, the driver mentioned that she had recently been out of the country, but believed she was exempt from the Quarantine Act due to the nature of her work,” police said.

Now, “the driver is facing charges of impaired driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident,” police said. “She was also given a ticket for not having a valid driver’s licence, an unlicensed driver prohibition, and a seven-day vehicle impoundment.”

In addition, CBSA and Public Health Canada are investigating the possible breach of the Quarantine Act.

The Quarantine Act that requires persons entering Canada — whether by air, sea, or land — to quarantine themselves for 14 days if they are asymptomatic in order to limit the introduction and spread of COVID-19. The 14-day period begins on the day the person enters Canada