Crime & Safety

19 DUI Arrests Over New Year's Eve Weekend in Mountain View

The city's campaign netted 57 over two weeks during the 'Avoid the 13' heightened enforcement period.

Updated with confirmed MVPD arrest figures for the DUI checkpoint on Jan. 4, 2013.

If you plan on driving under the influence, don't because the Mountain View Police is out to get you.

That was the message sent to drivers over the holiday season by law enforcement officials across the state and locally as they sought to deter people from driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs that would impair safe driving. As part of their participation, the MVPD held its first-ever solo DUI checkpoint on Saturday, Dec. 29th from 10 p.m. until about 2:30 a.m., according to department historian Doug Johnson.

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During the checkpoint, Mountain View Patch observed that random cars travelling north on Moffett Boulevard would be pulled into the checkpoint where officers did a preliminary assessment of the driver. If the officer noticed that the driver may have been impaired, the officer conducted a field sobriety test.

Sgt. Pete De La Ossa, who coordinated the efforts along with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, confirmed arrests figures at four for the checkpoint.

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However, the MVPD was in full force around downtown. Officers would tail drivers who they observed avoiding the checkpoint and even made one arrest where the suspect allegedly struck an officer.

In total, the MVPD arrested 19 drivers for DUIs between Friday, Dec. 28 and midnight Jan. 1, according to spokesman Sgt. Sean Thompson. For the two weeks of the "Avoid the 13" enforcement campaign, 57 people were arrested

Across the county, the Winter Holiday anti-DUI crackdown resulted in a significant number of DUI arrests.

While complete results are not yet available, pending results from some agencies, preliminary numbers show that from 12:01 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14, through midnight, Tuesday, Jan. 1, officers representing Santa Clara County law enforcement agencies arrested 432 individuals. In 2011, 491 DUI arrests occurred during the same time period.

The California Highway Patrol reports that it made the same number of DUI arrests in the Bay Area over the holiday compared to the same period last year while fatal collisions were down.

From 6 p.m. last Thursday to Tuesday to 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, the CHP reported one fatal collision in the Bay Area and 208 DUI arrests. Last year, the CHP saw three fatal crashes and 208 DUI arrests during the same period, according to CHP officials.

Statewide, 1,273 drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI over the past four days, compared to 1,270 arrests statewide during the same enforcement period last year.

Out of the 16 people killed in crashes on CHP-patrolled roadways over the holiday weekend, four were not wearing seatbelts, officials said. The CHP is reminding motorists to use a designated driver rather than driving under the influence and to buckle up.

Additional contributions by Anne Ernst and Bay City News, Inc.


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