IMPAIRED DRIVING CHARGES COULD REACH MORE THAN 100 BY LABOUR DAY AFTER 5 MORE CHARGED
MUSKOKA — Summer is shaping up to be another busy season for police taking impaired drivers off the road that could total more than 100 charges this year alone by Labour Day.
With six charges the first 11 days in May in south Muskoka they bring the number to 42 since January.
If the trend continues in to the busier four months ahead, they are on track to more than double that number as temperatures warm.
Five drivers face impaired driving charges the first two weekends in May, bringing the total number of drivers charged in May to six.
All five involved drivers who left the road or were in a single-vehicle accident.
On Friday May 2, at 8:40 p.m., officers responded to reports of a single vehicle collision on Lone Pine Drive in Bracebridge after a vehicle left the roadway and landed on its side.
The driver was uninjured, and police subsequently arrested and charged 22-year-old Travis Dyke, of Bracebridge, with Impaired Operation and Over 80.
Dyke is appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on June 3, 2025.
On Saturday May 3, at 12:15 a.m., the OPP responded to reports of another single vehicle collision on Brackenrig Road, in Muskoka Lakes Township.
A vehicle left the roadway and came to rest in a ditch.
The driver was uninjured, but was arrested and charged.
Ariel Hartog, of MacTier, was charged with Impaired Operation and Over 80.
Hartog is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on June 3, 2025.
And on Saturday May 10, just after 11 a.m., an officer was conducting routine patrols in Georgian Bay Township and conducted a traffic stop on Highway 400 North.
It was determined that there were issues with the drivers license and subsequent to an investigation, police arrested and charged 51-year-old Jason Schell, of MacTier, with the following:
Operation while Impaired
Failure or Refusal to Comply with Demand
Operation while Prohibited under the Criminal Code X 5
Possession of a Schedule I Substance – Opioid
Unauthorized Possession of a Weapon
Fail to Attend for Fingerprints
Schell was held in custody for a bail hearing in the Ontario Court of Justice on May 12, to answer to his charges.
Police also arrested and charged the passenger in this vehicle, 33-year-old Jessica Beasley, of Mactier, with Possession of a Schedule I Substance- Opioid and Unauthorized Possession of a Weapon.
Beasley is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on June 24, 2025.
Also May 10, at 2:20 p.m., the OPP responded to reports of another single vehicle collision on Taylor Road near Cedar Lane in Bracebridge.
A vehicle went off the road striking a pole.
The driver was uninjured, and police arrested and charged 59-year-old Kerry Hastings, of Bracebridge, with Impaired Operation, Over 80 and Operation while Prohibited.
Hastings is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on June 10, 2025.
Yesterday, May 11, at 9:15 p.m. an officer was conducting general patrol in the town of Bracebridge and came across a vehicle that was in the ditch.
The officer conducted an investigation into the circumstances and subsequently arrested and charged 40-year-old Brenna Benvegnu, of Bracebridge, with Impaired Operation and Over 80.
Benvegnu is to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on June 10, 2025.
