Impaired driver working on sobriety, court hears
Joseph Allan Rohrback, 57, of Oromocto, was unsteady on his feet, belligerent when leaving bar this spring, prompting call to police about possible intoxicated motorist
A retired veteran of 30 years who admitted to driving drunk this spring told a court Tuesday he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is working on maintaining his sobriety.
Joseph Allan Rohrback, 57, of Gilmour Street in Oromocto, pleaded guilty in Fredericton provincial court to a charge of impaired driving.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Bueno said the RCMP received a report May 5 from a member of the public who said a belligerent man had just exited the Oromocto First Nation Lounge, stumbling to a red GMC Sierra and left the area at the wheel.
The witness provided the plate number of the Sierra, court heard, and officers went to the address connected with that vehicle, though no one was home.
As an officer left that area, Bueno said, they spotted the red Sierra and pulled it over. Rofrback was at the wheel.
“He said he’d had a couple of drinks with a buddy,” the prosecutor said, adding he told the Mountie he’d likely fail a roadside screening test.
When he was out of his truck, she said, Rohrback had to lean on the vehicle as he was unable to support himself.
A breathalyzer test later revealed his blood-alcohol level was 150 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, court heard, almost double the legal limit of 80 mg.
Rohrback told the court he was medically discharged after a 30-year career in the Canadian Forces and has post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of that work.
“I am an alcoholic,” he said, noting that at the time he drove drunk, his wife was away on a cruise and he wasn’t in a stable mindset.
Since his arrest, Rohrback said, he’s been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and working on his sobriety.
Judge Cameron Gunn said it was encouraging to hear that. Rohrback made a mistake May 5, the judge said, but he’s learned from it and has taken steps to ensure he doesn’t make the same one again.
That’s to be applauded, Gunn said.
He imposed a $1,500 - the mandatory minimum fine given the breathalyzer reading - plus a $450 victim-fine surcharge.
The judge also prohibited Rohrback from driving anywhere in Canada for the next year, another mandatory requirement for a first offence for impaired driving.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.