"Drinking and driving is dangerous, but drinking and driving with a firearm is a dangerous, dangerous situation."
But according to Sgt Andy Pattenden, that's exactly what officers found when they responded to a 9-1-1 call from a concerned citizen in Vaughan on January 11th.
The caller was concerned the man may be intoxicated, so they felt the need to call police. During the call, which parts were released by police, the caller says the man dropped his glasses, and when he went to help, realized he wasn't in good shape.
"He's not OK," says the caller.
When officers showed up to the coffee shop near Keele and Rutherford Road at around 1:30 that morning, they found a man standing outside of his vehicle, with the engine running.
In an interaction with officers, the man claims he's had nothing to drink. The roadside breath test, proved differently. As a matter of fact, the man had a blood-alcohol level so high, he needed to be taken to hospital as a precaution.
The 54-year-old Richmond Hill man was taken into custody.
When officers noticed several open cans of beer in the backseat, they searched the vehicle. That's where they found the gun on the floor of the passenger seat.
"What's encouraging is our citizens are no longer tollerating this, and calling 9-1-1 whenever they spot a suspected impaired driver," says Sgt Pattenden.
According to York Regional Police, officers received about 3,500 reports regarding suspected impaired drivers last year. More than 1,700 impaired-related criminal charges were laid as a result.