An off-duty Winnipeg police officer will not face criminal charges after failing an alcohol test and refusing to provide another breath sample, Manitoba’s Independent Investigation Unit says.

An RCMP officer said officers stopped the man’s damaged pickup truck on Highway 44 in the area of ​​Zimmerman Road in the RM of Whitemouth after it crossed the center line into the night of May 21.

An RCMP officer noticed that the driver, who at one point said he was a Winnipeg Police Service officer and had complained about personal problems, put his tongue in front of the straw hole first time he had tried the detection device. He ultimately failed the screening and refused to take a second test, the RCMP officer told the IIU.

“His words were difficult to pronounce, he was stumbling and his eyes were not focused when he spoke,” noted the RCMP officer.

The WPS officer was given a 90-day driving ban and a $700 fine, and his vehicle was impounded for 30 days. He was not criminally charged with driving over the 0.08 legal limit, driving while impaired or refusing to take a breath.

An immediate driver’s license ban law allows Manitoba police to impose administrative sanctions on a driver instead of charging them with a Criminal Code offence.

Due to the refusal to provide a second breath sample and the damage to a defence, the IIU has sought advice from the Crown on whether criminal charges should be laid in this matter.

“After a thorough review of all the facts, the Crown is of the opinion that charges are not warranted,” the report released Friday said. “The arresting RCMP officer exercised discretion, consistent with that exercised with respect to other impaired drivers who have been issued with immediate roadside bans. »

The case is now closed, the IIU said.

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