BARRIE -- A Toronto police officer who was busted for impaired driving after he was caught on the highway at 145 km/h and straddling lanes in an unmarked cruiser was acquitted yesterday.

While his toxicology test showed a reading of 180 -- almost twice the legal limit -- Justice Michael Harpur found Det. Daniel Ross, of 31 Division, not guilty of impaired driving and not guilty of driving over 80.

Court heard Ross was pulled over in his unmarked police vehicle after a brief pursuit on Hwy. 400 just south of Barrie at around 4 a.m. on July 25, 2007.

CONTINUED SPEEDING

Initially, instead of slowing down, Ross continued speeding along while moving in and out of lanes without signalling, court heard.

Later Ross testified that he thought "someone was charging up in his rear" and moved lanes, not realizing it was a police car.

The arresting officer testified Ross smelled of alcohol, had a "dead man's stare" and delayed speech. The officer also found an empty bottle of Corona on the floor in the front of the car, and a case of nine empty Coronas in the back seat -- with one bottle missing out of the case.

Court heard Ross offered up his police identification instead of his driver's licence, explaining he forgot his wallet at home.

BEER AND WINGS?

Ross and two of his colleagues testified Ross drank five beers with some chicken wings earlier that night.

In court, Justice Harpur found that five beers did not match the toxicology test and that he would have had to drink several more than five beers to have a reading of 180 -- which, he said, casts doubt on the reliability of the equipment.

"Your honour, we're not talking about a piece of crap from Radio Shack," argued Crown attorney Ray Williams.


http://www.torontosun.com/News/Canad...11586-sun.html

 

well good on him, he's got himself some good connections.

 

This is one clear reason why I don't like Police Officers... If the story is accurate, he should face the same punishment as a non-officer... What a group of a**holes...

-P

 

WTF ????

 

Well, it's a good thing he wasn't going another 5 km/hr faster, or else the Judge would have had to NOT find him guilty of 'Street Racing' as well.

 

I'd bet the police officer that wrote the ticket already knocked down the speed by more than 5km so that's why he wasn't charged under 'street racing'. I think I should apply to become a police officer.

 

No ... you're kidding me ... That doesn't happen does it? Really?

Sickening double standard.

If we did that we'd be riding our bikes to work for a long time.

 

.. the blue line .....

 

hopefully his commanding officer did the right thing and put this a-hole on desk duty for the rest of his career or strongly suggested he find another line of work.

In my view they should have made an example of this guy. It would restore the faith from the general public

 

Silence from the Police Officers on this board... I would like to hear from them what the other side of the story is...

 

They were also having beer and wings

The whole DUI is bull sh*t anyways, each person has a different level of alcohol tolerance. They have it set on an extremely low level and they are trying to make it even lower.

 

You guys are so full of S**T, he got the same punishment as everyone else.....he got his fair trial and his lawyer got him off. If you only knew how many people get out of an IMPAIRED driving charge, that would real sicken you. The sickening part is you guys armchair quarterback something you have no knowledge of, all police are not a$$holes as most of you may think. Everone can make mistakes, and I mean all of us, even the buisness person who takes his/her clients out for lunch ( with drinks ), or the guy who plays in a band and drinks on the house then leaves after closing time ....come on guys think!!! Why would you lay the "street racing" charge with the 7 day licence suspension when his licence is already gone for 90 days for the "impaired" there the racing is not an issue. Both are ADLS - administrative driver licence suspensions - this has nothing to do with police its the government. We are mandated to do the paper.

go ahead an flame away......................

BG

 

And why if I don't comment do you paint me with the "beer and wings" brush.

 

I said it jokingly, there are a ton of reasons why a law enforcement person wouldn't comment. I know I wouldn't because I would fall in the with that paint stroke.

 

I was waiting for that. Good points.


Members in uniform are not always at liberty to just simply speak their mind and voice their personal opinions about cases, laws, procedures...etc. They are their to enforce the law, not critize it. They need to be seen as a loyal united front. Much like myself; if you ask me specific questions about what I personally think of certain military policies and operations, I can't comment on them. Professionalism.

-matt