After his wife locked him out of the house, Michael Todd Luke took a drive — while intoxicated — in search of a warm place to sleep for the night.
Luke, 49, ended up parked behind the Esso gas station on Highway 1, which is where police found him. Officers arrested Luke and charged him with impaired driving and having a blood alcohol content (BAC) over the legal limit of .08.
In Moose Jaw provincial court on Nov. 25, Luke pleaded guilty to having a BAC over the legal limit and received an elevated fine of $2,500. He was also prohibited from driving for one year, his licence was cancelled, and he also has to pay a victim surcharge of $100.
The Crown stayed the charge of impaired driving.
This event occurred on Nov. 10 around 6 p.m., explained Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff. Police received a call five minutes after Luke left his house and managed to locate him behind the gas station. Officers saw him exit his Jeep Cherokee with the keys in his hand; he staggered backward, had the smell of alcohol on his breath, had slurred speech and had difficulty concentrating.
It took officers four attempts to take accurate breath samples from Luke, continued Yusuff. Once they acquired the readings, one came back at .310 and a second reading showed .280; these were nearly four and three times the legal limit, respectively.
“My wife reported me,” Luke told Judge Karl Basin. “She locked me out of the house. That’s why I was going to find a warm place … I was going to a friend’s place. I’m guilty.”
The mandatory minimum fine in this case is $2,000, Yusuff said, while a driving ban of one year is the usual standard.
“Those readings are so high, do you have an alcohol problem?” Basin asked, to which Luke replied he did not. However, he had been in detox two years ago due to a previous marriage and the drinking he had done then. He pointed out his mother died six months ago from alcohol and drug use.
“I made a bad decision and I have to pay for the consequences,” he added.
Judge Basin accepted the Crown’s recommendations for sentencing.
Provincial court next meets on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
