It may have started out as an impaired driving call, but it ended up with a man being arrested and sent to hospital to be treated for an overdose.
Just before 1 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 25, the New Westminster Police Department received a 911 call from a citizen who reported a suspected impaired driver. The witness reported that the vehicle had been driving and weaving on the road, before pulling into a gas station.
“How this individual was driving on the road caught the attention of another driver,” said Sgt. Sanjay Kumar, spokesperson for the New Westminster Police Department. “This driver called us and maintained continuity with the vehicle until we were in a position to intercept the vehicle.”
According to New West Police, Const. Chris Faris rushed to the area and observed the driver had stepped out of the vehicle and was at the after-hours window at the gas station store, while a passenger could be seen waiting for the driver in the passenger seat. Const. Kamoh Malcom soon arrived at the Husky station on Brunette Avenue.
“As I walked up to the vehicle, I could see a handgun sitting on the centre console,” Faris said in a press release. “The possibility of impaired people having firearms within reach heightened the level of risk significantly.”
According to a New Westminster Police Department’s press release, Malcom, Faris, and Const. Matthew Watkins took both the driver and passenger safely into custody. They also began preparing a screening device to determine if the driver was impaired.
“At this time police on the scene became concerned about the welfare of the man in custody. His breathing became shallow, he had difficulty speaking, and he started losing consciousness,” said the press release. “Concerned the man may be having an overdose, officers administered Narcan nasal spray and placed him in the recovery position. BC Ambulance was called to the scene and the man was transported to hospital.”
Upon closer inspection, police determined that the handgun was a replica. Police have recommended charges to Crown counsel related to the North Vancouver man who was allegedly driving the vehicle.
The New Westminster Police Department would like to thank the person who made the call to 9-1-1, and would like to remind everyone to report suspected impaired drivers.
Kumar said police officers sometimes find themselves at the right place at the right time, but they often have to rely on the public to report incidents. Had the man not been arrested, he said it’s possible he could have gotten back on the road.
“We rely on the public to make those calls for us,” he said. “New West is such a small city. A lot of traffic just drives through it.”
