Abbotsford Police say they are recommending impaired-driving charges against a 24-year-old woman who allegedly sped through red lights with her young child unsecured in the backseat.
Sgt. Judy Bird said reports of the reckless driver came in at about 11 p.m. Tuesday (March 24).
She said officers located the vehicle and discovered it was being driving on its tire rims.
They pulled over the vehicle on Walker Crescent in central Abbotsford, and discovered that a five-year-old child was unsecured in a booster seat in the backseat.
Bird said the driver failed a roadside breath test, and the child was left in the care of the father.
A woman, Alexandra (who didn’t want her last name used), witnessed the driver while she was in the passenger seat while out for a drive. She told The Abbotsford News that she saw a van entering the intersection of Marshall and McKenzie roads on a red light.
“The individual in the van almost hit my vehicle. Not only did we notice the person in the van was driving erratically, but that the van had substantial damage to it. The whole driver’s side of the vehicle looked as if it had been in an accident or had hit something,” Alexandra said.
She said they then followed the van as it was travelling at a fast speed, and watched as the driver parked in the middle of Walker Crescent and began walking around with a young child. Alexandra said the driver was “stumbling around.”
Alexandra said she then called 911, and police arrived just after the driver had gotten back into the van and was trying to drive away.
“My hope is that the driver of the vehicle gets help for whatever led her to get behind the wheel with a child,” Alexandra said.
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