Alleged impaired driver crashes into police cruiser after running red light

A Durham Regional Police car is shown in Bowmanville, Ont. on Tuesday Feb. 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

An allegedly impaired 24-year-old man driving with a G1 licence ran a red light before smashing into a Durham police cruiser, investigators report.

On Wednesday morning, around 3 a.m., two police cars were in Pickering, near the area of Kingston and Whites roads, on the way to respond to a call, police said.

The two cruisers were making a left turn when the the driver of an Audi SUV drove through a red light. The driver slammed on the brakes, “near missing” one police car before t-boning the second, investigators report. After the collision, the suspect exited the vehicle and attempted to flee, police said, before they successfully took him into custody.

The officer involved in the collision was brought to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Alberto-Marius Renghea, of Oshawa is being charged with 11 offences, including one count of refusing breath demand.