Impaired driving charge for Winnipeg mother transporting children

A file photo of an RCMP cruiser. (Sean Amato/CTV News Edmonton)

RCMP have charged a 21-year-old woman from Winnipeg with impaired driving after she was pulled over while driving a vehicle with three children in the backseat.

At approximately 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, officers with the Red River North detachment received two 911 calls about a vehicle being driven erratically on Highway 8 near Highway 27 in the RM of West St. Paul. According to reports, the driver almost side-swiped other vehicles.

Mounties eventually found the vehicle and stopped it on Old McPhillips Road. They allege the driver and her passenger, both 21-year-old women from Winnipeg, were heavily intoxicated and open liquor was found in the vehicle.

Three children were seen in the backseat, RCMP said. One of the children, a six-month-old boy, was properly restrained. A two-year-old boy was in an unsafe booster seat, while a three-year-old girl was not belted in at all.

Representatives were called to come and take the kids to a safe environment, RCMP say.

The driver’s blood alcohol concentration was nearly 2.5 times above the legal limit. She has been charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle.

The driver was also charged under the Highway Traffic Act with two counts of not using a proper child restraining device, driving without an able supervising driver while holding a class 1A to 5A licence and unlawfully transporting liquor in a motor vehicle. She has since been released with a court date.

RCMP said they aren’t identifying the driver to protect the identity of the children.