FORT SIMPSON (Apr 03/98) - March will probably be remembered as the month of the double-drunk driving arrests in Fort Simpson.

Not one, but two drivers were arrested last month in the village after blowing over the legal limit for alcohol twice in a 24-hour period.

On March 3, a Hay River resident was arrested at 10 a.m. after being spotted on main street. The same man was found to be impaired and allegedly operating a motor vehicle again the next day around the same time.

Both village schools are located just off main street.

On the second arrest, the man was found to have almost three times the legal limit for alcohol -- 210 milligrams -- in his system.

He was set to appear in court yesterday to face a justice of the peace.

Last Saturday, a Fort Simpson man was arrested after failing a breath test Saturday afternoon. Police got the same man Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. for the same offence.

RCMP say he again failed a breath test and spent the day in custody to sleep off the effects of the booze.

He'll face a justice of the peace on April 29.

This brings the total of impaired driving arrests to five so far in 1998, said RCMP Sgt. Dean Taylor on Monday.

Last year, there were 12 impaired driving related charges for the whole year laid by Fort Simpson RCMP.

Const. Grant MacDonald said that the first round of arrests on the Hay River man arose out of tips being phoned into police by concerned members of the public.

"I think this is a positive reflection on the citizens of this community," he said of the help police received from the public. "It's a partnership and citizens are being clear that they will not tolerate impaired driving."