A 25-year-old man has been charged with stunt driving and operating a motor vehicle without insurance after Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigated a vehicle performing “doughnuts” in a community hall parking lot last month.
The incident occurred on the evening of March 16 in the Blake Hall Community Center parking lot on 71 Blake Hall Road in Neebing, Ont. Surveillance footage captured the incident between 6:40 p.m. and 6:42 p.m.
Police described the suspect vehicle as a blue four-door Honda Civic and had sought public help identifying the driver and male passenger.
Not a ‘kid’ having fun
In a video posted to social media on Friday, Const. Joel Eppinghaus of the Thunder Bay OPP addressed the case, stating:
“Do you remember this individual? … Looks like a couple of young kids just having fun with their little Honda car, right? No.”
Eppinghaus confirmed the driver was 25 years old, holding an A-Z driver’s licence and was operating the vehicle “with no insurance.” He added that further investigation revealed the motorist had “lost his driver’s licence several times while having alcohol in his system and operating a motor vehicle.”
“When it seems like there’s not more to the story folks, there always is,” Eppinghaus said.
“This is why we do our due diligence in investigating things to our absolute fullest.”
Responding to criticism expressed across several social media platforms about police resources being used for the case, Eppinghaus said:
“If this happened in your community hall in Terrace Bay, Toronto, Kenora, Red Lake or even your property, acreage, front lawn or driveway, you would want us to do our due diligence and try our best to figure out who did it.”
— Ontario Provincial Police, Const. Joel Eppinghaus
“There’s always more than what meets the eye,” said OPP on social media.
The accused was not publicly named by police in the post or video nor were any damages or injuries reported related to the incident.
Eppinghaus concluded the video by saying, “Stay safe out there and as always, be well.”
