A woman is facing impaired driving charges after allegedly being found passed out behind the wheel of her vehicle with her infant in the vehicle.

According to a police press release, Nanaimo RCMP were alerted by Oceanside RCMP to watch for a Ford pickup that had reportedly been involved in a hit-and-run collision earlier in the day Nov. 17. Nanaimo RCMP located the vehicle at about 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot at Nanaimo North Town Centre. The vehicle鈥檚 engine was still running but officers were unable to rouse the woman after yelling and knocking on the windows.

With the assistance of B.C. Ambulance Service and Nanaimo Fire Rescue, the woman was awoken and 鈥渢o ensure there were no medical issues at play,鈥� she and her child were transported to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for assessment.

鈥淥fficers detected a strong odour of liquor on her breath which provided grounds to pursue an impaired driving,鈥� noted the release.

The father picked up the child at the hospital and the mother was taken to the Nanaimo RCMP detachment to provide two breath samples which were both two and a half times the legal limit, said police.

The 35-year-old driver was issued a 90-day driving prohibition and her vehicle was impounded for 24 hours. She has been issued a notice to appear in Nanaimo provincial court at a later date.

鈥淭his incident is disturbing on many levels but needless to say that we are just glad that the child was not injured in any way,鈥� said reserve Const. Gary O鈥橞rien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson, in the release.

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