An off-duty Winnipeg police officer who drove home from a Henderson Highway bar while he was drunk — despite efforts by staff to stop him — has pleaded guilty to an impaired driving offence.
Const. Oleksii Gerasymchuk, 39, was charged with driving with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08 and driving while impaired on Dec. 8, 2023, after an investigation by the Winnipeg Police Service professional standards unit.
He pleaded guilty to driving with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08 in provincial court on June 10. The count of driving impaired was stayed.
Judge Raymond Wyant gave Gerasymchuk a $2,200 fine and a victim surcharge of $200, as well as a year-long driving ban.
“More than anything, it affects public confidence in Winnipeg police,” said Crown prosecutor Nick Reeves.
“This is the exact sort of situation where somebody gets incredibly injured: you get too drunk at a bar, you go to leave, someone tells you to stop and then you drive home.”
Reeves said a “calamity” can occur when impaired people drive.
“It’s really pronounced when it’s a police officer who’s tasked with protecting the public, and they’re putting themselves and others in this situation,” said the prosecutor.
Staff at Leopold’s Tavern at 1346 Henderson Hwy. called police after Gerasymchuk — who they did not know was a police officer — drove away from the parking lot at around 10:45 p.m. on Dec. 8.
He’d had two draft beers while sitting alone at the bar, a bartender told the Free Press at the time, and was visibly intoxicated as he got up to leave.
Bar staffers, Reeves told court, followed him into the parking lot, where he backed his truck into a garbage bin.
Workers told Gerasymchuk not to drive, but he continued, so they took down his licence plate and called police.
Police dispatch, who ran his plate, sent officers over to his house, which was about a half block away. They saw his vehicle at the home.
His wife told the officers he had been having some difficulties, Reeves said.
Gerasymchuk took two breathalyzer tests and registered at twice the legal limit, which Reeves called an aggravating factor. The Crown also said the fact Gerasymchuk did not stop when bar staff asked him to was an aggravating factor.
Defence lawyer Matthew Gould told court that a friend of Gerasymchuk’s in Ukraine, where the police officer had immigrated from, had been killed.
He had learned about his friend’s death in Russia’s war against Ukraine one day earlier. Rather than attend a Christmas party with fellow officers, he went to drink alone at the bar, Gould said.
Gerasymchuk said he understands his behaviour was unacceptable and he accepted all consequences. He hasn’t drank since his arrest.
At the time of his arrest, Gerasymchuk had been an officer for two years.
Gerasymchuk, who had been on general patrol, has been confined to desk duty at police headquarters.
The desk job will continue at least until his driving prohibition and any order by Manitoba Public Insurance are no longer in effect, Gould said.
Wyant said that those who work in the justice system are held to a higher standard.
“I’ve often viewed that we’re kind of on duty 24/7… and the public, of course, looks to us to set examples. When we set a bad example, it reflects badly not only on the individual, but on the organization that they represent and on the justice system,” he said.
“We’ve certainly… seen tragedy, as you have I’m sure, some horrible tragedy, as a result of drinking and driving.”
The judge alluded to the death of Crystal Taman as an example.
The 40-year-old mother of three was stopped at a red light in East St. Paul in February 2005, when off-duty Winnipeg police officer Derek Harvey-Zenk rear-ended her at about 7 a.m. after he had been partying with fellow officers.
In a controversial plea deal, Harvey-Zenk was convicted of dangerous driving causing death, while other charges were stayed.
It was later revealed charges were dropped because East St. Paul police had botched the investigation. That department was disbanded and the province held a public inquiry into the matter in 2008.
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera
Reporter
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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