New Westminster police officer accused of impaired driving following crash
Last Updated: Thursday, October 30, 2008 | 10:00 PM PT
CBC News
New Westminster high school liaison officer Tomi Hamner was charged with impaired driving after allegedly hitting a highway sign with a police cruiser. (CBC) A well-respected, female officer with the New Westminster Police Service is facing a charge of impaired driving following a single-vehicle accident nearly two weeks ago in North Vancouver.
Const. Tomi Hamner, 47, was off-duty on Oct. 18 and was driving an unmarked police vehicle when it struck a sign on Highway 1 near Westview Drive.
The police vehicle was "damaged and not drivable," and the officer involved, who was alone at the time, was asked to provide two breath samples, RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter Thiessen said Thursday.
"This particular officer was dealt with in a manner that is consistent with every impaired driver," he said.
New Westminster Mayor and police board chair Wayne Wright said Thursday it's "one of those unfortunate things that's happened."
Police allege an off-duty officer driving an unmarked police vehicle on Oct. 18 struck a sign on Highway 1 near Exit 17 of Westview Drive in North Vancouver. (CBC) "She was a very frontline person, very outstanding, and has great respect in our community," Wright told CBC News.
"She's one that has gained the respect of all the people that she's worked with, and I have heard myself the testimonies from different people in the school system and the children themselves how much they enjoyed her and respected her," he said.
Asked by reporters why the almost two-week old case was only being made public Thursday, Thiessen said the officer was not given special treatment because she belonged to a police force.
"Whether it's police officers, whether it's doctors, whether it's lawyers, we as a routine do not forward information in regards to impaired driving cases. There's thousands of them every week, every month, unfortunately in this province," he said.
Hamner was released on a promise to appear in North Vancouver Provincial Court on Dec. 17.
She was the school liaison at New Westminster Secondary School but has been re-assigned. Her new position is not known.
Mountie involved in fatal crash in Delta
The accident is the second reported recently involving an allegedly impaired police officer in B.C.
On Tuesday, Delta police said an RCMP officer is facing a charge of impaired driving causing death.
Orion Hutchinson, 21, was killed Saturday night in Tsawwassen, a community in Delta, when a Jeep collided with the motorcycle he was riding.
The driver of the Jeep left the scene, but shortly after the crash, police arrested an off-duty officer with the RCMP's Vancouver 2010 integrated security unit.
Cpl. Benjamin Montgomery Robinson, 38, is scheduled to appear in provincial court on Jan. 15. He has reportedly been suspended with pay.
Robinson was the supervisor and one of four RCMP officers deployed to deal with an agitated man at Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14, 2007. The officers jolted the man, a Polish immigrant named Robert Dziekanski, with a Taser, and he died minutes later.
