Drunk driver tried to put moving car in park
Kaylee Alana Reed, 29, of McLeod Hill, had more than twice legal limit of booze in her system when she was pulled over by city police officer earlier this year
When a Fredericton police officer tried to pull a McLeod Hill woman over earlier this year, the impaired driver tried to put her SUV in park before stopping it, a court heard Tuesday.
Kaylee Alana Reed, 29, of McLeod Hill Road, pleaded guilty in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday during her first appearance on a charge of impaired driving.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Bueno said a city police officer spotted a 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe on the road April 23 and noticed it had no rear licence plate.
As such, the prosecutor said, the officer moved to pull the vehicle over.
The driver of the Santa Fe - later identified as Reed - started to pull over to the side of the street, Bueno said, but as she did so, she tried to put the SUV in park, “causing a grinding noise.”
When the officer approached the vehicle, court heard, Reed was exhibiting clear signs of intoxication.
Reed smelled of alcohol and slurred her words, Bueno said, and she confirmed that she had been drinking.
A breathalyzer test administered later at the Fredericton police station showed Reed’s blood-alcohol level was 190 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, she said.
That’s more than double the legal limit of 80 mg.
The prosecutor said given Reed’s early guilty plea and lack of a prior criminal record, the Crown was seeking the mandatory minimum fine - which, given Reed’s elevated blood-alcohol level, was $2,000.
Impaired-driving fines start at $1,000 for lesser blood-alcohol readings.
Duty counsel Gerald Pugh said that was appropriate, noting that Reed is employed and was co-operative with police at the time of her offence.
Judge Cameron Gunn imposed the $2,000 fine, plus a required victim-fine surcharge of $600.
He also prohibited Reed from driving anywhere in Canada for a year.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.