Sault driver pulled over on highway facing multiple impaired charges

A driver from Sault Ste. Marie is facing multiple charges after police received complaints about a vehicle on Highway 638 on Wednesday.

Shortly after 11 a.m., officers with the East Algoma detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, the Sault Ste. Marie detachment of the OPP, and Batchewana First Nation Police Service responded to multiple complaints of a possible impaired driver in a pickup truck on Highway 638 in MacDonald-Meredith-Aberdeen Additional Township and continuing onto Highway 17 within Johnson Township.

Shortly after the reports, police located the pickup on Highway 17 near Fisher Road (Desbarats area) and stopped the vehicle.

The driver was arrested and transported to the Sault Ste Marie OPP Detachment for further testing after officers say they believed the driver had been drinking.

Frederick Lester, 62, from Sault Ste Marie is charged with:

• operation while impaired - alcohol and drugs
• operation while impaired - blood alcohol concentration (80 plus)
• driving motor vehicle with liquor readily available (two counts)

The truck was towed and impounded for seven days and the driver was issued a 90-day Administrative Drivers Licence Suspension.

None of the allegations have been tested in court and Lester is considered innocent unless proven guilty.