A woman who is currently registered to run for Victoria council and has vowed to boost the police department’s budget if elected has been arrested in Langley.
Riga Godron was wanted after failing to appear in court, stemming from several alleged erratic driving incidents on July 1, including one where police said officers had to leap out of the way of her large pickup truck as the driver allegedly refused to stop. The driver fled the scene in the truck before being boxed in by officers in the 600-block of Pandora Avenue, as Canada Day celebrations were occurring nearby. Godron was pulled from the vehicle by officers and arrested.
She faces sworn charges of obstructing a police officer, flight from police and driving without due care and attention. The charges have not been proven in court.
Godron is currently listed on Victoria’s council candidates’ webpage.
“When elected I would lobby members of council to increase the Victoria Police Department’s budget incrementally in correlation to the population growth,” states her candidate bio.
Civic Info B.C. data shows Godron also ran in the 2018 election and captured just over five per cent of the vote.
During the July 1 incident, bike officers in James Bay were flagged down because of an improperly parked vehicle impacting traffic on Dallas Road. Officers found the large truck obstructing the northbound lane and began looking for its driver.
Police then noticed someone standing across the street recording with their phone and the person identified themselves as the truck’s owner. VicPD said the officers repeatedly told the driver they were being detained but the individual started the truck, put it in gear and backed quickly from the parking stall. The officers were forced to leap out of the way.
The truck was then spotted on Douglas Street, where police tried to pull it over using lights and their siren. VicPD said the driver then made an unsafe overtake of another vehicle, despite the crowds of Canada Day pedestrians.
The truck was then reported being driven erratically on Blanshard Street, before turning left onto Pandora Avenue in the direction of the road closure area for the Canada Day celebrations. The driver stopped the truck in the 600-block of Pandora Avenue and was boxed in by police. The driver was pulled from the truck and arrested.
READ: Victoria police box in truck after driver flees twice during Canada Day festivities
Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
