P.E.I. man was living in his car when arrested for drunk driving

Driving drunk on the mistaken aspect of College Avenue in Charlottetown whereas greater than double the authorized alcohol restrict has resulted in jail time for a P.E.I. man.

Devanshu Sharma, 22, was sentenced by Chief Choose Jeff Lantz on June 9 in provincial courtroom in Charlottetown to 5 days in jail, a $2,000 nice and a one-year driving ban. As well as, Sharma was ordered to pay a $600 sufferer surcharge.

Sharma was discovered responsible of the impaired driving cost by Lantz after a brief trial on April 22.

Mistaken aspect

The driving offence came about on Dec. 4. At round 7 p.m., a motorist was driving in the identical path on College Avenue as Sharma’s car. Nonetheless, Sharma was driving within the mistaken lane and practically collided with an oncoming car. The witness adopted Sharma to an condominium constructing car parking zone close to the Oak Tree Liquor Retailer on Pond Road. He noticed Sharma get out of the car, stumble and urinate on the property’s garden. The witness then phoned police and Sharma was arrested.

On the Charlottetown police station, Sharma offered two breathalyzer samples of 210 and 200 milligrams (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood — greater than double the authorized restrict of 80 mg.

Sharma admitted to driving drunk throughout the trial. He defined that he started experiencing monetary issues in November, the month previous to the driving offence. He stated he paid for an costly flight to India for his sister’s wedding ceremony. He then stated he began sending cash to his dad and mom to assist out after he realized that they needed to promote a whole lot of their land and gold to pay for the marriage. Sharma additionally stated at trial that he was employed full-time however was additionally homeless and dwelling in his automotive the day of the offence. Sharma testified that his plan was to reside in his automotive for a few month as a result of he did not come up with the money for for first and final months’ hire to lease an condominium. He stated he was additionally saving as much as purchase a home. The night time of the offence, on condition that the temperature was chilly and that he was dwelling in his automotive, Sharma admitted to consuming whisky earlier within the night to be able to keep heat. He stated he did not keep in mind driving.

False report

Sharma was additionally sentenced on June 9 for an unrelated offence of public mischief for deceptive a police officer by making a false report. He pleaded responsible to that offence after the impaired driving trial on April 22. Crown legal professional John Diamond stated that on March 18, Sharma advised police that his car was broken in a hit-and-run incident. Nonetheless, after talking with a tow-truck driver, police realized that Sharma really broken his car by colliding with a hearth hydrant.

At sentencing, Lantz gave Sharma 5 days in jail for the general public mischief cost to run concurrent to the driving offence jail time.

As well as, Sharma was additionally ordered to pay $2,861 in restitution to the Metropolis of Charlottetown for prices associated to the injury to the hearth hydrant.

Previous to the drunk driving and false report offences, Sharma did not have a legal file.

Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter for SaltWire Community in Charlottetown.  [email protected] @PEIGuardian