Blake Ellis/Local Journalism Initiaitive

A Sarnia judge says a St. Clair Township man is lucky no one was hurt as he passed out from drug use in Courtright.

Alexander Boe was found slumped over the steering wheel of his vehicle at the Courtright Variety Store June 3. He had the car in gear with his foot on the brake.

Sarnia Court heard March 30 that Boe apologized to police when they arrived on the scene, telling them he had pulled into the variety store to take a nap. He was sweating, yet all the windows of his vehicle were down. An empty bottle of methadone was spotted on the seat of the car and a plastic straw was found in his pocket. He admitted it was a straw used to snort cocaine. He failed a drug recognition test and was arrested.

Boe is addicted to opioids which began when he was given a prescription for a back injury seven years ago. He was able to overcome it at the time, but he relapsed. “I can’t change the decision I made that day, but I am moving forward,” he said. Boe plead guilty to impaired driving and was fined $3,000. His licence has also been suspended for a year.

“This could easily be a jail sentence,” said Judge Krista Leszczynski, appeared before her in Sarnia court on March 30. “You are very lucky no one was hurt or killed.”