A utility pole was broken into two pieces, one piece on the ground and the other hanging from wires after a hit-and-run driver’s vehicle apparently crashed through it on Airport Heights Drive Saturday night at about 10:30 p.m. Tire tracks leading up to the pole could be seen on the nearby lawn.
The vehicle then apparently continued across a street, narrowly avoiding a line of community mailboxes, and then fled the scene.
A short time after the incident, RNC officers located the suspected vehicle, an abandoned and extensively damaged pickup truck, about 500 meters away on the grounds of the Windsor Lake water treatment plant.
A K-9 team was deployed in the area to try and track a suspect.
During the ensuing investigation, a 23-year-old male was eventually located and charged with impaired driving, refusing the breathalyzer, taking a motor vehicle without consent and failure to remain at the scene of an accident. The vehicle was impounded and the male has been held for court.
The road in the area of the broken pole was cordoned off until Newfoundland Power workers arrived on scene to secure the electrical and communication wires.
-This story has been edited to add details provided by the RNC-