Zamboni operator in rural Manitoba to face impaired driving charges

EDMONTON – Police in rural Manitoba say impaired driving charges are pending against a Zamboni operator.

Officers received a complaint Saturday about the man during a minor hockey game in Ste. Anne, southeast of Winnipeg.

Marc Robichaud, chief of the town’s police department, says the machine was striking the rink’s boards and moving erratically around the ice.

An officer spoke with the driver between periods of the game, then placed him under arrest.

Robichaud says the man in his 30s, who was new to the ice-clearing job, has been released from custody.

He is to face charges of impaired driving, refusing a breath sample and resisting arrest.

Robichaud says arresting a Zamboni driver for impaired driving is a first for him, but the offence includes operating any motorized vehicle.

“Liquor and any kind of motorized vehicle don’t mix, irregardless of whether it’s on the road or wherever it may be,” he said.

There was no damage to the machine or the rink.