High-risk traffic stop intercepts dangerous driver

VERNON – Police conducted a high-risk traffic stop near the Vernon Army Camp Monday to intercept a group of individuals seen leaving a Lake Country pub with a gun in the car.

Vernon RCMP were alerted around 7:30 p.m. to keep an eye out for a blue Ford Taurus. Reports said the vehicle was spotted leaving Woody’s Pub in Lake Country, the occupants believed to be impaired and one of them carrying a handgun.

It wasn’t long before a traffic officer spied the vehicle speeding down Highway 97 near Birnie Road, traveling well over the 90 km/h speed limit with a reading of 142 km/h.

The cop, along with several other officers, conducted a code 5 high-risk traffic stop on 15 Avenue and Highway 97. Police ordered the occupants out of the car and told them to lie on the ground. They were cuffed while police checked out the car.

A pellet pistol was recovered from the car and the driver, a 46-year-old Lake Country man, failed a breathalyzer test. He was arrested for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and handed a 90 day Immediate Roadside Prohibition and 30 day vehicle impound. Excessive speeding, a defective car window and an inspection order earned the man a further seven days without his car.

The other occupants of the car were released at the scene.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.