The Ontario Provincial Police in Essex County pulled eight drivers off the road for impaired driving over the weekend.
Starting at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, OPP officers pulled over a vehicle while investigating a shoplifting incident on Erie Street South in Leamington.
Two people in the vehicle were charged: a 35-year-old Essex woman and a 38-year-old Leamington woman. Both face charges of theft under $5,000, but the woman from Essex is also charged with impaired driving, driving without a license, and having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.
Just before 10 p.m., officers responded to a single-vehicle crash on Arthur Avenue in Essex. A 41-year-old Essex man was charged with impaired driving and dangerous driving.
No one was hurt in the crash.
On Saturday, the OPP pulled over a vehicle after receiving a complaint about a driver on Amy Croft Drive in Lakeshore. A 41-year-old Essex man is now charged with impaired driving.
Also on Saturday, police charged a 59-year-old man from Belle River with impaired driving after a vehicle ended up in a ditch along St. Clair Road in Lakeshore.
Police received a complaint about a driver on County Road 23 near South Malden Road in Kingsville around 8:45 a.m. on Sunday. They charged a 55-year-old Kingsville man with impaired driving.
Later that afternoon, police charged a 32-year-old Windsor driver after a crash on Hwy. 401 in Tecumseh. In addition to impaired driving charges, the suspect is also charged with possession of the proceeds of crime under $5,000, trafficking cocaine, failure to remain, and driving without a license.
A traffic stop early Monday morning on Mersea Road 19 in Leamington ended in the arrest of a 30-year-old Essex man who was wanted after an intimate partner violence incident. In addition to assault, that driver is also charged with impaired driving.
The final arrest came just after 10 p.m. on Monday when police pulled over a vehicle on County Road 42 near Manning Road in Tecumseh. A 53-year-old man living in Maidstone is charged with impaired driving.
In each incident, the driver had their license suspended for 90 days, and their vehicles were impounded for a week.
Police ask anyone who suspects a driver is impaired behind the wheel to call 911 immediately.
