Latest news with #drunkdriver
CTV News
3 days ago
- CTV News
Police say impaired driving suspect lost race with train in Thunder Bay
A passenger vehicle crashed into a utility pole in Thunder Bay, Ont., after an alleged drunk driver attempted to be a train at a railway crossing according to witnesses who spoke with police. (Thunder Bay Police Service/Facebook) A 32-year-old Thunder Bay man is facing multiple charges, including impaired driving causing bodily harm, after allegedly racing a train to a railway crossing before losing control of his vehicle and crashing into a utility pole. The incident marks the man's second impaired driving arrest in less than three weeks, according to the Thunder Bay Police Service. Dangerous crash near railway crossing Police were called to the area of Crawford Avenue and Gore Street just after 8 p.m. on Sunday, following multiple reports of a single-vehicle collision. Authorities said witnesses told officers the vehicle had been speeding toward a railway crossing as a train approached. 'The vehicle had been travelling at a high rate of speed towards the railway crossing where a train was approaching when it became airborne and the driver lost control, crashing into a utility pole,' police said in a news release. The driver allegedly fled on foot but was apprehended after a brief chase. Officers noted signs of impairment and discovered open alcohol containers and drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle. The licence plate attached to the car had also been reported stolen. Thunder Bay Police Service traffic unit An undated image of a Thunder Bay Police Service traffic unit vehicle. (Thunder Bay Police Service/Facebook) One of the three passengers suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the crash. Repeat offender faces multiple charges The accused, a local man, was charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, prohibited operation of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, resisting arrest and breaching probation and release order along with several Highway Traffic Act offences. The man was remanded into custody following a court appearance and a future court date has been scheduled.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
I've been left homeless and living out of hotels with my baby after a drunk driver crashed into my living room just moments after I changed his nappy - we're lucky to be alive
Dressed in her pyjamas and enjoying a quiet Sunday morning with her baby and partner, Stacey Sibbald-Wright's life was torn apart when a car smashed through her front room. Just moments before, the doting mother had been changing her 10-month-old baby near the window and Ms Sibbald-Wright revealed if the shocking incident had happened just 10 minutes earlier, they could've been killed. Now six weeks later, the family of three are homeless and relying on friends and family to support them as they burn through their life savings in an ongoing dispute with insurance companies. Reduced to living in hotels, the mother-of-one has been forced to buy new baby clothes and live off takeaway meals while she continues to pay rent on a home she can not longer live in. Her family have now launched a GoFundMe to help with the costs of living in hotels and caravans as their home is repaired. Last month Ms Sibbald-Wright, 36, from North Shields outside Newcastle was shocked to find her living room destroyed by a drunk driver who crashed in to her house. At 9am on Sunday morning Ms Sibbald-Wright heard a loud crash downstairs and at first believed a cupboard had fallen off the wall. But she was shocked to find dust covering everything and a car though her living room windows. She said: 'It was me and my baby and my partner all in the house at nine o'clock, and then we heard this massive bang. 'I thought a cupboard had fallen off. I went downstairs and there was just dust everywhere, just covering everything. You couldn't see anything.' Ms Sibbald-Wright explained she and her family had had a lucky escape as just 10 minutes before the crash she had been changing her baby by the window while her two dogs ran around. 'Ten minutes before, I changed my baby by the window and then we were out in the garden. And then we went upstairs with the baby. I called the dogs in. My partner was in the in the front room and then there was the front end of a car in it. Ms Sibbald-Wright said she struggled to process what was happening at first and said she looked through the hole in her house and noticed a man in a car with 'a slight graze on his nose'. The mother added that initially the driver tried to run away but was apprehended by neighbours who pinned him down until the police arrived. After the emergency services came, Ms Sibbald-Wright said she and her family were ushered out, still in their pyjamas and without any support. 'I went and got my my little boy, and we went out the back, but the police ushered us out and I was in my pyjamas,' she said. 'We weren't allowed to grab anything.' As Ms Sibbald-Wright came to terms with the scene in her living room, she told the Daily Mail how the driver of the car that had destroyed her home was 'staggering around'. The shocked mother described the scene as 'really insane' and added that the police arrested the driver but the family are still processing the horrifying ordeal. Following the crash, Ms Sibbald-Wright and her family have been living in hotels and relying on the kindness of family and friends but she told the Daily Mail that less than two months after the incident, she is already in her eighth hotel and has been having to fund the temporary accommodation from her own pocket. She revealed: 'We've had to fund it all ourselves, straight up. The insurance are paying it back, but we've had to pay up front. 'We had a tiny, tiny little pot of savings, because I'm on maternity leave, so I've got no income at all. So we had a tiny, tiny pot of savings, and that's just all gone on trying to fund accommodation, fund food. Just fund everything really. The family initially lived at a local Premier Inn for five days before Ms Sibbald-Wright sourced a caravan for them for a couple of days. But she said it has been challenging and she has been trying to live as meagerly as possible. 'We were in the Premier Inn for five days, and then I managed to source a caravan for a couple of days. So we've just moved and moved and moved. 'The thing is, we live in a seaside holiday resort in in Whitley Bay, and it's summer as well, so we have just had to go with what's available, really. 'And the insurance said that we can't really spend too much. I've been looking for discount codes. 'We've been in caravans most of the time, the eight moves has been really difficult. She added: 'One of the worst things is you leave at 10am and you can't check in anywhere till 4pm so we're just hanging around in restaurants spending money we don't have to wait until we can check into the next place.' The mother also revealed that she is still paying the rent and bills on her home and was told by the insurance that if she stopped, her accommodation wouldn't be subsidised. She said: 'We're still paying all the rent and the bills and we were just told to keep paying, otherwise they wouldn't fund any separate accommodation. So we're currently funding a house that we don't actually live in.' The worried mother added that the family have now run out of money and just after they were forced to move out, she claims their home was robbed with expensive tools including drills and a lawnmower pilfered by thieves. She said: 'We're at the point now where we've got no money left at all. We've got no income that a couple of days after as well, the property wasn't secured, and we got looted'. Ms Sibbald-Wright confessed that the worst part of the entire ordeal was having the tools from her back garden stolen and she described feeling 'really violated' by the ordeal. She added that her family have been helpful but can only do so much living in Northampton and that her maternity leave has been very difficult. Despite the terrible experience, the Newcastle upon Tyne native said she is relieved no one was hurt and confessed that if the car had crashed in to her home just ten minutes earlier her family would have been 'crushed' and her baby possibly killed. She said: 'Everybody kept saying, "God, you're so lucky" and just ten minutes before, I was changing my baby on the table. 'If me and my partner were at the table, we would have just been crushed. And if my dogs were in the garden, in the toilet, they would have been crushed too'.
CBS News
30-07-2025
- CBS News
Livonia police use new grappler technology to stop drunk driver
What could have been a tragic ending to a police pursuit with an alleged drunk driver ended safely in Livonia, Michigan, thanks to the quick action of a police officer and new technology. "We received several 911 calls in the area of Eight Mile and Middlebelt regarding a potential drunk driver," said Livonia Police Captain Eric Marcotte. "The officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop at which point in time the suspect vehicle fled from officers." An officer nearby, with what's called a grappler device on his patrol car, jumped into action to bring the suspect's vehicle to a controlled stop. "The grappler is game-changing technology that we've had for a few months," said Marcotte. The grappler is mounted to the front bumper of a patrol car. The officer gets within inches of the suspect vehicle, then deploys a strong net that wraps around the rear tire to lock the fleeing vehicle in place. "Ultimately, brings that vehicle to a stop. A long device like a tether is also attached to the grappler, which is like a bungee, so as that officer is stopping, it allows the officer to take control of the suspect vehicle," Marcotte said. Marcotte says that with the use of technology like this, authorities were able to prevent what could have been a dire situation and were able to stop 52-year-old Jason William Wise from Flint, who posed a serious threat to others. "This grappler is able to give us a safer alternative rather than doing other traditional pursuit termination techniques," said Marcotte. Livonia Police say Wise was arrested and charged with operating while impaired, fleeing and eluding, open intoxication inside a vehicle and obstruction.
The Sun
27-07-2025
- The Sun
My brain FLIPPED in my skull as my head smashed against the road when a drunk driver ploughed into me then ran off
JAMES Bradley was waiting for a bus when a car ploughed into him with such force that his brain flipped inside his skull. What was just a moment in the drunk-driver's life became a three-year battle to save James' through 10 gruelling surgeries. 9 9 9 James, who was visiting from Dubai at the time of the brutal hit-and-run on Bushey High Street, Hertfordshire, on Boxing Day 2021, had to completely relearn how to read, write, speak and walk in the wake of his ordeal. The high-flying project manager, now 37, tells Sun Health: 'I was just crossing the road and the guy hit me out of nowhere. I was knocked completely unconscious. 'He slung me from the right-hand side. I smacked my arm against the windscreen and smashed my head against the floor. 'I landed right in the middle of the road, and the bus nearly ran me over as well.' After stopping down the road just moments after hitting James, then 34, the driver fled the scene - leaving his innocent victim helpless on the tarmac. He says: 'My friends saw me in the middle of the road, then noticed the driver stop and get out of the car. 'He started swearing because he'd seen me on the ground. 'I believe he wiped down the steering wheel, then took his possessions and just ran off. 'There was a pub next door and he ran through the garden and jumped over the fence.' James says there were drugs and alcohol in the vehicle, and the car didn't even belong to him. As James' panic-stricken pals waited for an ambulance to arrive, two heroic nurses, who were held up in the police cordon, rushed over to help. He says: 'Jodie Bannister and Mary Walsh saw me lying in the road and raced over. 'Jodie got her coat and wrapped me in it.' On the way to St. Mary's Hospital in London, James' heart stopped. Thankfully, medics were able to stabilise him in time to deliver him to intensive care. He adds: 'I went straight in to have a CT scan and then immediately into surgery. 'They had to cut open my skull to relieve the pressure on my brain. 'They said my brain flipped from one side to the other. The pressure on my brain had moved the actual brain itself.' 9 9 9 James' elbow was also shattered into 50 pieces, and he had to have sections of his leg and hip removed to help rebuild the joint. After his life-saving surgery, he was placed into a medical coma - one that doctors were unsure if he would ever wake up from. James' brother, Paul, says the family would video call the ward every day in the desperate hope for positive change. Paul, 40, says: 'Back then, we were still dealing with the ramifications of Covid, so we had to do a lot of Zoom calls. 'Every day he was in a coma, we phoned as a family and would say, 'Any change?' and they would say, 'No'. 'We did this for weeks, but it felt like months.' Miraculously, James defied the doctors' fears, and he woke up after three and a half weeks - but he's still got a long way to go. James says: 'I'm still not fully there yet. 'I've only just finalised my rehabilitation three years after the accident because the injury was on the left side of my brain, which impacts your speech and language. 'I've had four surgeries on my brain and another four on my elbow. 'I still have one functional arm and two more surgeries to go, so I'm still not finished. 'I'll probably never be finished, but I'll always look to move forward.' James has also developed epilepsy and has suffered six severe seizures, one of which resulted in his head being re-stitched. His memory has also been heavily affected. Epilepsy after a brain injury EPILEPSY happens when the normal electrical activity in your brain changes. It's thought to be related to genes you inherit from your parents, or to changes in your genes, but it can be caused by brain damage. This includes a head injury, stroke or an infection. The Epilepsy Foundation says: "When there is a traumatic blow to the head, or a jarring or shaking of the brain, the impact of the brain against the rough edges on the inside of the skull can cause tearing of the coverings of the brain, tissues, and blood vessels that may cause bleeding. "The impact can also cause bruising (contusion) and swelling (edema) of the brain. "Since the brain is covered by the skull, there is only a small amount of room for it to swell. "This causes pressure inside the skull to increase, which can lead to additional widespread brain injury." Epilepsy cannot currently be cured, but treatment can often help manage it, including medication and surgery. Source: NHS, Epilepsy Foundation After a procedure to add new plates under his scalp to replace the missing half of his skull, he developed an infection. James says: 'Because I had my head open, I essentially didn't have a skull, just skin covering my brain. 'On the day that the tissue around my metal skull got infected, they had to cut muscle out of my face, just above my temple, to get into the actual infection part of my skull. 'When they do these head surgeries, you have to have half your skull taken out, and you lie in bed with the worst headaches for weeks. 'Then you come out again and have to rebuild. It was demoralising.' I was at the bottom of the barrel and felt I had nothing left in my life to live for anymore. I was completely broken. James Despite saving his life, the countless operations and the visible damage to James' face and head left him suicidal. He says: 'I was at the bottom of the barrel and felt I had nothing left in my life to live for anymore. I was completely broken. 'I didn't want to go outside. I didn't want people to see me. 'I hated the way I looked, so I didn't really want to go to the gym, but I eventually plucked up the courage to go back. 'Because I've been in hospital for so long, I've lost all my muscle. 'I've been trying to rebuild the muscle and get my life back.' 9 9 9 Because the years after his accident were a blur of hospital visits, surgeries and rehabilitation, the severity of James' injuries didn't fully register until he returned to St Mary's Hospital for a check-up in 2022. After chatting about his time in the ICU, a doctor suggested he visit the ward where he spent weeks in a coma. When James walked through the doors and laid eyes on his personal nurse, Rebecca, she struggled to hold back tears. Paul, a personal trainer, says: 'These nurses have to be 'on it', and all they are dealing with is negativity and drama - bad, bad people who are close to death. 'Rebecca came out, almost crying, and told James, 'We never get to see the success stories, we never find out what happens when people leave here'. 'She turned around to James and told him how pleased she was to see him because he was the sickest person on the ward. 'I think that was the moment when it really hit home for James. 'I think until then, the penny hadn't dropped. In that moment, he realised he'd had a second lease of life.' 'Life is so precious' James, who once worked for Exxon Mobil, one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world, is now writing a book. He hopes The Will To Survive will inspire others who have experienced life-changing injuries. But writing has come with its challenges. James says he often gets tired after looking at a screen for prolonged periods and sometimes the words don't flow as easily. 'I want to be able to help other people who have had similar experiences to me,' he adds. 'It will be autobiographical, but will be filled with things I've learned in my recovery.' As the car didn't belong to the person driving at the time of the incident, police were never able to charge him. For some, the injustice would be almost too much to bear. But James, who is now waiting to have more surgery on his arm and face, takes a vastly different approach and says the crash was one of the 'best things' to have happened to him. 'I feel sorry for him, really,' he says. 'I'm not saying that anyone should have to nearly die to feel this way, but honestly, it's one of the best things that's happened to me because now I've learned the true aspect of life. 'Life is so precious and it's completely opened my eyes - especially to how we should treat one another. 'I'm not angry towards him anymore, it's just one of those things you have to get over. 'He was obviously going through a time where he felt it was OK to leave me. I've not got hatred for the guy.'
The Sun
15-07-2025
- The Sun
Dramatic moment idiot driver speeds off road, spins out of control and crashes into police car
FOOTAGE reveals the terrifying moment a drunk driver loses control of his car and smashes straight into a police vehicle. The reckless motorist was more than double the legal limit when he ploughed into a cop car on a quiet country road in Nottingham. 4 4 4 4 The car had been spotted driving erratically just moments before it veered off the road. Footage released by cops shows the silver car flying off the tarmac and into a hedge on the drivers right hand side. The driver is then seen speeding along before the car suddenly jolts off to the side and spins uncontrollably. It then crosses back over the lane, slides sideways and thuds straight into the police car. The officer inside had only just parked up and was moments from getting out. Nobody was injured in the terrifying crash, which unfolded in a rural spot in North Nottinghamshire. Chief Inspector Clive Collings of Nottinghamshire Police warned: 'Every summer we see an increase in both drink driving arrests and collisions within rural Nottinghamshire. "With a long, hot summer expected, we will be deploying our officers into a variety of rural areas and concentrating our attention on vehicles leaving country pubs.' The driver, 48-year-old Darren Shackleton, was found to be more than two times over the legal drink-drive limit. He was arrested at the scene and later admitted drink-driving when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on July 9. M6 closed as two children among eight injured in horror crash with drivers facing two-hour delays Inspector Collings added: 'No drink is worth the life-changing consequences of getting behind the wheel when over the limit. "The safest amount of alcohol to drink if you are driving is simple to remember – none.' Shackleton, of Retford Road, Mattersey, was slapped with a three-and-a-half year driving ban. He was further ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months. The court also ruled that he must abstain from drinking alcohol for 80 days. Police say the smash happened during a targeted summer campaign to clamp down on drink-driving in the countryside. Chief Inspector Collings said that while rural roads may look quiet, the risks of drink-driving are just as deadly as in any city. He vowed that officers will be watching pubs and country lanes closely this summer. Cops say the footage will now be used to warn others about the dangers of drink-driving. They're urging drivers to plan ahead, use taxis or designate a sober driver. Officers say there will be also more patrols in rural areas in the coming weeks as part of their crackdown.
