RCMP reported Wednesday that an off-duty officer who drove a marked car into a highway ditch had been drinking — in violation of a probation order.

Cst. Brent Jolson, 40, was given a 24-hour driver's licence suspension, charged with breach of probation and placed on what the RCMP called administrative duty while his status with the Mounties is reviewed.

Jolson crashed a marked RCMP vehicle while driving along Highway 11, near Lumsden, a community about 30 kilometres west of Regina, a news release from the Saskatchewan RCMP headquarters said.

Police said Jolson entered the centre median of the four-lane highway and crashed into a culvert. Police said the car was so damaged it could not be driven and that Jolson was not seriously injured.

The accident happened at 7 p.m. CT on May 7.

Jolson, a member of the Canora detachment of the RCMP was not on duty or in uniform at the time. Canora is a rural Saskatchewan community, about 230 kilometres northeast of Regina.

Investigating officers on the scene administered a roadside breath test. Police said that Jolson blew a "warn" reading, resulting in the licence suspension.

According to police, Jolson was on probation relating to a conviction for assault. They reported that one of the conditions of the probation was to abstain from the consumption of alcohol. Police said Jolson was charged with breaching that condition and was scheduled to appear in court in Regina on June 8.

While police did not link Jolson's accident to another crash involving an RCMP member, it occurred less than 48 hours later.

In the earlier crash, which happened in the early hours of the morning May 6, an off-duty Mountie, Colin J. Moulton, 34, died when his Ford Mustang convertible collided with a tractor-trailer.

Police later reported that Moulton had alcohol in his system. Moulton's death also occurred on the same stretch of Highway 11, about 30 kilometres west of Lumsden.

Police said that Jolson's case was still the subject of an investigation. They said the constable has 12 years of service with the RCMP.