INNISFAIL – A passed out Red Deer man is facing several Criminal Code and drug charges after waking up in his running vehicle in the early morning hours near the Innisfail Schools Campus and then immediately crashing into a police cruiser.
RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff said in a media release issued Friday that at about 1 a.m. on Feb. 27 Innisfail RCMP received a report of a possible impaired driver passed out in his vehicle near the campus.
“Police located the vehicle which was running and in gear; the driver was passed out in the driver’s seat,” said Savinkoff. “The driver eventually woke up, took his foot off the brake and immediately crashed into a police vehicle.”
Savinkoff said the driver was arrested for impaired driving, adding RCMP also seized about 40 grams of methamphetamine, 20 grams of fentanyl and a loaded sawed-off shotgun with a tampered serial number.
He said there were no injuries, and limited damage from the ramming of the police cruiser.
Savinkoff said Eric Meldrum, 31, of no fixed address in Red Deer, has been charged with:
• possession of controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking (x2);
• careless storage of a firearm;
• possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose;
• carrying a concealed weapon;
• possession of a firearm knowing its possession is unauthorized;
• unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle;
• possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition;
• possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number; and
• failing to comply with a release order.
Savinkoff said Meldrum also failed a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) evaluation and was issued an IRS impaired by drug driving sanction.
He said a judicial interim release hearing was held for Meldrum where he was held in custody pending a bail hearing at his next scheduled court appearance on March 7 at the Alberta Court of Justice in Red Deer.
