York regional police charge 26 with impaired driving over long weekend
Posted July 4, 2017 3:12 pm.
Last Updated July 4, 2017 3:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
York regional police say they charged 26 people with impaired driving over a seven-day period that spanned the Canada Day long weekend.
The arrests took place between Monday June 26 and Monday July 3 as part of the Not One More campaign that saw police evoke the memories of the three Neville-Lake children and their grandfather — all killed in an impaired driving crash.
Daniel, 9, Harrison, 5, and their two-year-old sister, Milly, were all killed, along with their 65-year-old grandfather, Gary, in the September 2015 crash in Vaughan.
Marco Muzzo, 29, pleaded guilty to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two of impaired driving causing bodily harm. He received a 10 year sentence.
The police campaign, which included heart-wrenching messages from friends of the Neville-Lake children, was aimed at deterring people from getting behind the wheel after drinking.
Police say they also laid 126 distracted driving charges over the week-long blitz which included general patrols and RIDE spot checks.
Two people were charged with being impaired by drugs, and one person faced a charge of failing to provide a breath sample.
“York regional police thanks the citizens who chose to make the right decision this weekend to not drink and drive,” police said in a release.
“We also want to thank the members of the community for helping us stop and arrest impaired drivers by calling 9-1-1 through the Safe Roads…Your Call program. We consider these incidents a life-threatening crime in progress and will continue to respond to these calls.”
Leading up the Not One More campaign, York Regional Const. Andy Pattenden said he was alarmed that the tragic deaths of the Neville-Lake children didn’t seem to result in a drop of impaired charges.
“I just don’t know that people are putting themselves in that headspace that after they’ve had a few drinks and get into a car that they may be the next one to kill a family,” he said.
“Maybe if the police aren’t going to convince you, maybe these young kids here and the tragedies that they’ve gone through and their feelings will convince you.”
With files from The Canadian Press