Drunk driver jailed briefly for crashing into LCBO

A 31-year-old Malton man is going to jail for a little more than two weeks after admitting to being a drunk driver when he crashed his minivan into a general store and fled the scene earlier this month.
Rudy Gajadhar was given a 15-day jail sentence after he pleaded guilty in Ontario court to impaired operation of a motor vehicle, failing to provide a breath sample, failing to remain at the scene of an accident and obstructing a peace officer.
Dufferin OPP say Gajadhar also had his four-year-old daughter in the van at the time of the July 2 crash. She was not injured.
At around 8:30 p.m., police say, a 1997 GMC minivan drove through the side windows of the Mansfield General Store, a rural LCBO outlet in Mulmur Township, Dufferin County.  No one in the store was injured, but there was extensive property damage to the store and merchandise inside.
The minivan immediately fled the scene southbound on County Road #18 (Airport Road), police said.
Store employees called 911 and Dufferin OPP officers were dispatched.  At least two motorists on County Road #18 called 911 on their cell phones to report "the van was driving erratically, swerving all over the road, and the side door was wide open," according to OPP Acting Staff Sgt. Dave Quinton.
Police stopped the minivan a short time later, Quinton said.
Motorists are urged to call 911 if they suspect an impaired driver," Quinton said. “In this case, there is no doubt the motorists who called 911 helped OPP officers make a speedy arrest.  They may well have prevented a tragic collision as well.”
Gajadhar will also be on probation for the next 18 months.
lrosella@mississauga.net