It appears a 33-year-old man crashed into a Perrier Rd. house in a company vehicle, causing a dangerous gas leak Friday, then drove to a further destination to continue drinking, according to RCMP Cst. Gerrod Strebchuk.
And "it wasn't rocket science" to catch him, either.
"I seized some evidence at the scene, items that broke off the truck during the crash," he told the Star. "After the scene was secured and cleared I started making patrols and the vehicle was located on the side of the highway within a kilometre. The driver was now at another friend's house, continuing to drink."
The man denies the charges he faces, but Strebchuk said the evidence is "overwhelming".
"The woman wasn't able to sleep in her house, because it was contaminated with gas, but she should be back now. The gas company attended that night and put on a new meter, and Nelson Fire Rescue was able to shut the line down because it wasn't sheared off above the valve."
A plumber was also called to deal with the damage.
"It's a bad spot there because the houses are so close to the asphalt," Strebchuck said. "There's no real median. But being heavily intoxicated sure didn't help his situation."
Initially Strebchuk liaised with police in Nelson and Salmo, ensuring the banged-up truck couldn't get past them in either direction.
But neither spotted the truck.
"We knew it had to be somewhere between us, possibly somewhere ditched. I started roaming around looking for damage that would match."
It wasn't long before he located the driver. Strebchuk had strong words for drunk drivers who continue to put others lives' in danger.
"This shouldn't have to be explained to the public, the consequences of drinking and driving. Here you've got a lady pushing 90, her house was hit in the middle of the night and that could've evacuated several people."
And that's not all.
"It's super simple: drinking and driving is just not acceptable. You combine it with our current road conditions and everything else? It's a recipe for disaster."
