Calgarian who failed to provide a breathalyser sample says she's never drank, was injured

CTV News

4 days ago

A Calgary woman charged after she was unable to provide a breathalyser sample says she was injured at the time and has never once drank.
Now, she's fighting the expensive and humiliating charge.
Pam Lacusta was pulled over for speeding by a police officer in an unmarked vehicle on 114 Avenue near Stoney Trail S.E., just after 11:30 a.m. on April 24.
'I rolled down my window and [the officer] said, 'I am going to conduct a breathalyzer on you,' said Lacusta. 'Immediately, I thought to myself, 'What? Why?''
Lacusta is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and doesn't drink.
'Part of my religion is abstinence from alcohol and drugs, and I have never partaken in either of these in my life,' she said.
After 30 attempts to provide a breathalyser sample, Lacusta was charged with an Immediate Roadside Sanction Fail (IRS Fail).
'Every time I was able to just get a good blow in or a good breath in, he would yank it out and he would say, 'Your teeth are in the way,' 'Your tongue is in the way,' 'You're trying to manipulate the test,'' Lacusta said. 'I have never seen a breathalyzer, I do not know how to do it.'
Lacusta's charge, under the Traffic Safety Act, alleges she 'failed or refused, without reasonable excuse, to comply with a demand made on [her].'
Her license was suspended for 90 days, and her vehicle was impounded for 30.
She had to pay $1,600 to get it out of the impound lot.
Following her 90-day licence suspension, Lacusta needs to take a Planning Ahead course from the Alberta Motor Association, which costs $400 and takes a year to complete.
She will also need to get a breathalyser installed in her vehicle – costing $115 per month – and her insurance will no longer cover her.
'I am being treated like I was a drunk driver,' she complained. 'This has been a small nightmare, I do not wish this on anyone.'
Lacusta says she was able to produce a clean urine sample immediately after the incident, and called a lawyer the following day.
With her lawyer's help, she appealed her charge with the Safe Roads Appeal Committee. However, it was denied by an adjudicator as they sided with the officer and disputed her independent lab results showing her sobriety through a urine test.
Doug King, a criminal justice professor at Mount Royal University says Lacusta would have had a minimum of 14 days to collect documentation and provide it to an adjudicator.
Lacusta says when she met with a doctor in early June, more than a month after the incident, to determine if there was something medically wrong with her that would have prevented her from being able to provide a breath sample.
She discovered she had two broken ribs, which she says dated back to a fall that happened on April 1.
'The onus falls on the person who has to provide the documentation to get it done or to get legal representation to help you through it,' King said. 'It's a tragic situation.'
'The process is that you can have a hearing, in which you can provide evidence of a reasonable excuse. She failed to do that.'
Lacusta has a court date scheduled for September 2026.
CTV News has reached out to the Ministry Justice and is waiting to hear back.