Police cruiser crash north of Brampton leads to impaired driving charge

A Caledon driver has been taken off the road after an alleged crash with a police cruiser at an impaired driving checkstop north of Brampton.

The Caledon OPP say an officer was setting up for a Festive RIDE checkstop around 12:40 a.m. on Friday at the offramp from Hurontario St. to Valleywood Blvd. in Caledon.

That’s when police say a driver rear-ended a parked police cruiser with its emergency lights on. Photos from the collision appear to show a white truck crashed into a back end of a police cruiser.

There were minor injuries in the crash, but police did not say who was injured.

Officers suspected the driver was impaired and requested a breath sample. The driver was arrested for impaired operation and transported to the Caledon OPP Detachment where additional breath tests were conducted.

Yoel Morales Lemus, 48, of Caledon, has been charged with:

• Operation while impaired – blood alcohol concentration (80 plus)

The accused is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Orangeville on Feb. 27. None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The vehicle was impounded for a period of seven days and the driver’s licence suspended for 90 days.

The Festive RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) campaign is an annual police enforcement and education initiative aimed at taking impaired drivers off Ontario roads during the holiday season.