Darwyn Loring loves his coffee.

At least twice a day, Loring heads up the highway adjacent to his home in Spruce Grove, a bedroom community west of Edmonton, for a fix.

But Loring's coffee run Monday afternoon left a sour taste in his mouth after an RCMP officer pulled Loring's wheelchair over on the highway and issued him a ticket for stunting, a violation that comes with a $543 fine.

"Wouldn't you be angry? ($543) for stunting and I'm stuck in this wheelchair and fighting for my life - Darwyn Loring

"I just about fell out of my chair," the 74-year-old said.

"There's no law against going on the road when you're in a wheelchair. If there is, well then I'm in the wrong country."

Two years ago, the retired boilermaker lost a leg to diabetes, but he never let the injury slow him down.

"I got to be out," he said. "I can't sit inside. I'm going nuts when I can't do nothing."

Coffee at the nearest Tim Hortons a few blocks from his home is part of his routine.

He says Highway 16A is the most direct and safest route even though there is no sidewalk.

"I'm on the outside on the shoulder," he said. "I'm not bothering anybody."

But police insist otherwise.

Several motorists complained, police say

RCMP said they've received several complaints from motorists over the last two months accusing Loring of operating his wheelchair in a dangerous and distracting manner.

At least seven times officers have warned Loring to stay off the road, said Cpl. Kim Mueller.

Each time Loring brushed the warning aside. On Monday police had had enough, issuing Loring a stunting ticket.

"That also includes being distracting or interfering with traffic on a highway," Mueller said.

Loring remains recalcitrant and intends to fight the ticket.

"Well wouldn't you be angry? I mean ($543) for stunting and I'm stuck in this wheelchair and fighting for my life with this damn diabetes?

"Nobody tells me where to go," he said. "I got to go where I got to go and that's it."

Loring's friend Jim McIntosh posted the ticket on Facebook, garnering thousands of views. He said he's flabbergasted by police.

"The RCMP here in Spruce Grove, they're not going to look good on this one. Somebody has to apologize on this one," McIntosh said.

Meuller acknowledges the optics may not be good.

"I'm not going to say it's good PR," she said. "This was the action that the member felt was most appropriate to stop this behavior from occurring."​