Uber driver among 22 people charged with impaired over the holidays in York Region

Update, Jan. 2, 2019: York police originally said the driver was driving for Uber at the time of the incident. On Jan. 2, Uber told CityNews that he was not on duty. York police on Jan. 2 explained that at the time of the incident, the information gathered indicated that he was on duty. Uber added that it “immediately removed this driver’s access to the app.”

Police say an on-duty Uber driver was one of 22 people charged with impaired driving in York Region between December 24 and January 1.

Const. Laura Nicolle said the driver was arrested on New Year’s Eve and called it a concerning incident.

“In this case, the officers located the suspect, who was pulling into a parking lot at a business, and officers learned that the suspect was an on duty Uber driver who was there to pick up someone who had gone through the app,” she said.

“The driver was arrested and charged with impaired driving and being over 80.”

The driver has been identified as 55-year-old Dennis Romanin.

In another case, police were called on Christmas Eve after a vehicle pulled into the driveway of a home and crashed into the house.

When officers arrived on scene they found the driver asleep in the vehicle with the engine still running. The driver was arrested and a breath sample read more than five times over the legal limit.

Artem Kulikov, 29, of Vaughan, was charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and being over 80.

In all of 2018, York police laid approximately 1,650 charges for impaired-related driving offences.