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Woman arrested for impaired driving following collision with police vehicle

Arshad Khan

A 50-year-old woman from Tracadie, N.B. was arrested for impaired driving following a head-on collision with a police vehicle in the community.

On June 29, 2022 at approximately 8:20 p.m., a member of the Tracadie RCMP in a marked police vehicle was en route to assist the Neguac RCMP with a call for a disturbance. While merging onto Route 11 near the intersection of route Rivière-à-la-Truite, the member encountered a SUV that was driving the wrong direction on an off-ramp. The member attempted to swerve out of the way, but the SUV collided head-on with the police vehicle. The police vehicle sustained serious damages, trapping the member inside. The driver of the SUV fled the scene.

Another driver in the area stopped to assist the officer, helping her exit the vehicle safety. The member, who sustained minor injuries in the collision, immediately began searching for the driver of the SUV. A woman was located approximately 300 meters away in tall grass, and was arrested by the member. The woman was uninjured. The member was transported from the scene to hospital, and was later released.

Members of the Tracadie RCMP, the Tracadie Fire Department, and Ambulance New Brunswick attended the scene. One lane of the highway was closed for several hours, and has since re-opened. An RCMP collision reconstructionist later attended the scene as part of the investigation.

The arrested woman was transported by other police officers to the Tracadie RCMP detachment, where breathalyzer tests were administered. The tests registered approximately three times the legal alcohol limit. The woman was later released, and is scheduled to appear in Tracadie Provincial Court on February 24, 2023.

“We would like express our sincere gratitude to the citizen who stopped to help our member when she was trapped in her vehicle, as well as our first responder partners who assisted with this incident,” said Cpl. Kevin Plourde with the Tracadie Detachment.

“This could have been an exceptionally bad situation for everyone, including our member,” says Plourde. “If you ever needed a reminder of the dangers of driving impaired, this is it. Especially with the long weekend coming up, please keep yourself and everyone on the road safe by always driving sober.”

The investigation is ongoing.

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