A 45-year-old man from Oenpelli was arrested at about 7:20pm on Sunday after rolling a Toyota troop carrier about 11kms east of the Oenpelli Township. Eight adults and one child were passengers in the vehicle; two of the adults were conveyed to Darwin with non life threatening injuries.

The driver returned a blood alcohol reading of .155% and police destroyed 25 litres of alcohol at the scene, and seized another 17 litres.

Less than 24 hours later, police apprehended a 41-year-old Oenpelli man approximately 30kms from the Oenpelli Township. The man returned a blood alcohol content reading of .130%. Members also seized 55.75 litres of alcohol from the driver and his four passengers. The man's Toyota land cruiser was also seized.

Superintendent Helen Braam of the Northern OSD said, "It's just sheer luck that no one was killed in the accident. What amazes me is that of the nine passengers, not one of them thought twice about getting into a vehicle which was being driven by some one under the influence. Less than twenty four hours later exactly the same thing occurs, where another four passengers, were happy to get into a vehicle with a driver who was drunk. Luckily the police caught them before they rolled their car - which was an almost inevitable outcome with a reading of .130%.

"Those passengers or their families would be the first ones to be demanding justice if someone had been killed or seriously injured in an accident - yet they refuse to take any responsibility - they can't just sit back and be quiet or look the other way - they need to talk strong and stop these drunks from driving."

Media Contact:
Rickie Scoot
8922 3185