This Saanich police car was damaged after a collision on Aug. 18, 2018. Photo Credit: Saanich police.
A Saanich woman is facing two charges after colliding with a police car on Saturday.
Saanich police said at around 3 p.m., officers went to the Elk Lake boat launch parking lot on Bear Hill Road after witnesses reported two people in a parked car “behaving in an erratic matter.”
According to police, the driver of the car collided with a police car that turned onto Bear Hill Road. The officer in that police car was the first officer who was responding to the incident.
The driver was allegedly oncoming and driving on the wrong side of the road. Both vehicles were significantly damaged. The passenger in the car did walk away but was stopped by two CRD bylaw enforcement officers in the area.
Police said the woman driving the car drove away from the scene at a slow speed and ignored police who were telling her to stop. She hit several cement meridians and the police car again at a slow speed. She was arrested after steering her car into a deep ditch.
She was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons but was released then held in police custody.
At a TeleBail hearing on Sunday afternoon, the woman was charged with failing to stop for police and dangerous driving under the criminal code. She was released to appear in early September in provincial court in Victoria. Saanich police have not released her name. They are investigating whether or not she was impaired by drugs at the time of the crash.
The 49-year-old police officer involved in the collision was sore and stiff but did not miss any work due to injury, police said.
Alexa Huffman
