On Monday around midnight, a vehicle approaching a Festive RIDE check on Manitoba Street near High Falls Rd in Bracebridge failed to stop and proceeded to evade OPP by driving through the checkpoint, according to an OPP press release.
Following this incident, Bracebridge OPP officers conducted a traffic stop a short distance away, and as a result, John Ballantine of Utterson, Ontario, was arrested.
The 40-year-old has been charged with impaired operation of a vehicle, having a blood alcohol content (BAC) over 80, failing to stop for police, and driving a motor vehicle with liquor readily available.
Prior to the incident, at 11:52 p.m., a member of the public called the police to report that an intoxicated male was driving on Manitoba Street directly towards High Falls Road.
Ballantine will appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge on January 10. His vehicle has been impounded.
The Festive RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) campaign is an annual police enforcement and education initiative to take impaired drivers off Ontario roads during the holiday season. This year’s OPP Festive RIDE Campaign runs from November 17, 2022, to January 2, 2023.