The Saskatoon Police Service made a post to social media recently saying an impaired driver removed themselves from the road when they drove right into the gated compound of the Saskatoon Police Service Headquarters over the holidays.

In the evening hours of December 24th, an officer entering the police compound in a marked vehicle noticed a black SUV with out-of-province license plates slowly follow them through the security gates into the restricted area. Thinking that the driver must be turned around, the officer exited their vehicle, approached the rolling SUV, and tapped on the glass. Police say the driver didn’t acknowledge the officer, who was now walking alongside the SUV, for another 150 feet until a second officer in a marked vehicle flipped on their lights and sirens to conduct a traffic stop within the compound.

Police say at that point they could see the driver display signs of impairment. The SUV actually came to a stop a short walk from Detention at the police headquarters which is where the driver refused to provide a breath sample. A 31-year-old Saskatoon man was charged with impaired driving and refusing to comply with a demand.

Police checked the sobriety of than 2,500 drivers at check stops around the city during December and as a result of that initiative there were two people charged under the criminal code for impairment by drug or alcohol, seven were charged under the Traffic Safety Act, 41 administrative suspensions were issued, 41 vehicles were impounded for varying drug and/or alcohol offences and 500 coffee cards handed out by MADD Saskatoon to drivers making the safe choice to drive sober.