After 30 years of police work it takes a lot to shock Kensington Police Chief Lewie Sutherland — but it happened on a recent January morning.
Sutherland, along with another officer, was traveling on Route 2 between Kensington and Summerside, at about 9 a.m. when a car narrowly missed hitting their cruiser.
The car had missed a stop sign where the highway intersects with Sunset Drive.
“We didn’t see him until the snow bank exploded and he came through it,” said Sutherland.
The officers turned on their lights and tried to pull over the vehicle, but it sped away on the wrong side of the road.
The driver allegedly refused to pull over and drove into oncoming traffic for three quarters of a kilometre.
The car eventually went back into the correct lane, but then, right around Omega Eggs, it nearly collided with a tractor trailer. The truck driver had to swerve his vehicle out of the way of the oncoming car.
Kensington Police, with backup from Summerside Police and East Prince RCMP, finally got the car to stop near the Travellers Rest roundabout.
A 50-year-old man from Kensington was arrested and charged with impaired driving.
He was taken to Summerside to provide a breath sample.
In fact, Sutherland remarked that the suspect blew a blood alcohol level that was amongst the highest he’d ever seen in 30 years of police work.
The incident has concerned him greatly, he said.
“At five after nine in the morning — that’s scary,” said Sutherland.
“Fortunately we got through it without any accidents.”
This was the third charge of impaired driving that Kensington Police have laid since the new year. The other two charges were against snowmobile drivers.
The suspect in this incident will be in court on Jan. 31.
