Drunk drivers own the roads in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS – You can feel the disappointment and frustration behind the words in Staff Sgt. Fran Bethell’s release to the media about drunk drivers in the city Friday night.

The RCMP had to deal with a driver that hit a man with his car in a fit of drunken road rage and they found 3 other drunks behind the wheel during some road checks.

“Sadly some drivers are still not getting the message,” Bethell said in her news release.

Police were called to a fender bender in the intersection of Highway 5-A and Rogers Way. A driver trying to make a left turn into a parking lot hit another vehicle.

Both men pulled into the parking lot and got out of their vehicles. The man whose car was hit wanted to exchange license and insurance information.

RCMP say the suspect driver became agitated, jumped back into his vehicle, gunned the engine and sped away. In the process hitting the other driver who rolled over the hood and off the car. He wasn’t injured at all according to the police.

While the RCMP were at the scene investigating the suspect returned. A friend had given him a ride.

He was promptly arrested.

Breath samples found he was more than 3 times the legal blood alcohol limit. He was held for several hours to sober up and released.

A Clearwater man, 34, will appear in Kamloops Court at a later date facing several charges including impaired driving and dangerous driving.