The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, March 18, 2009 · 4 Teen charged in crash By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Councillor followed suspect A 17-year-old Oakville boy is facing impaired driving related charges following a collision with two cars parked in a Heritage Way driveway Police said the incident began at around 11 p.m. when plain clothes officers observed a car driving erratically. The officers moved into position to conduct a traffic stop on the vehicle, however, before this could happen the car lost control and crashed into two cars parked in the driveway of a Heritage Way home. "It sounded like a bomb hit the house," said S. Lambert, the home's owner. "I came out and there were officers with guns drawn and there were kids lying on the ground everywhere. They had them down because they had tried to flee the police." Police said a female passenger was transported to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening head AFTERMATH: Crash damage to Heritage Way home. injuries. The other five occupants of the vehicle were not injured. This was fortunate, Lambert noted, as the car carrying the teenagers was travelling fast enough to knock both parked cars out of the driveway and into the home damaging the brick walls at both sides of the garage. In an odd twist, Lambert noted his son is actually acquainted with all the kids in the car, many of whom attend Abbey Park High School. Lambert is disturbed that alcohol was a factor in the crash. "It's horrible, you know. You'd think these days there is enough media attention around it that kids and parents would know better," he said. "You'd like to think it's improving, but maybe it isn't, maybe they're just hiding it better." Lambert estimates the damage from the accident to be in the area of $150,000. The driver of the vehicle, a 17-year-old Oakville boy, has been charged with numerous offences including impaired driving causing bodily harm and dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm. Halton police are reminding members of the public that impaired driving is a crime in progress and should be reported to police if spotted. Continued from page 1 Khan got into his car and followed the boy as he made his way from Pilgrim's Way to Fourth Line and Monastery Drive. At one point, Khan said, the boy succeeded in finding an unlocked van and began to remove items. "That's when I called the police," said Khan. "While I was driving and following this guy I was telling the police what he was wearing and where he was going." With the arrival of police on the scene, Khan noted, the suspect was getting ready to bolt, but never got the opportunity. "I pulled into a driveway and cut him off and the police arrested him," said Khan. "He was just stunned." While police said Khan's actions went well beyond the call of duty, the Ward 6 councillor believes most people would have done exactly what he did. "I don't think it's anything unusual," he said. "At the end of the day, it's our community. We have a vested interest in keeping it safe." The 15-year-old boy was charged with theft, but has been referred to the Youth Diversion Office, which means he and his parents will meet with a police officer and a social worker to determine why the boy felt the need to commit a crime. Usually, according to Detective Gerard Kelly the youth will enter into a contract Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan with the Youth Diversion officer stipulating conditions the youth must abide by for a certain period of time. If the youth completes these conditions the criminal charge will not be laid against them. If the youth is unwilling to enter into the contract or they break the contract a charge will be laid. Halton police urge residents to keep their car doors locked to prevent this type of theft. "The majority of break-ins to cars usually involve unlocked cars," said Kelly. "Occasionally a window will be smashed, but it's not that frequent. People will just go down the street and check car door after car door after car door. Maybe one out of 10 car doors will be unlocked and it is surprising what people will keep in an unlocked car."