Crime & Safety

Los Altos Arrests 1 in Second Day of Memorial Day Weekend County-wide Crackdown

DUI arrests now stand at 47 countywide for the first 48 hours of the 'Avoid the 13' campaign to reduce alcohol-related crashes.

Law enforcement continued its weekend-long crackdown on drunken driving over the Memorial Day weekend, reporting 47 arrests in Santa Clara County in the first 48 hours since the campaign began on Friday.

arrested just one person Saturday among the 29 that were arrested during that 24-hour period. The individual was an 18-year-old woman from Sunnyvale who was arrested at El Camino Real and Showers Drive, initially on a vehicle code violation, said Sgt. Scott Bunch of the Los Altos Police Department.

Fifteen law enforcement agencies participate in the "Avoid the 13" program, which focuses enforcement around holidays where drinking and driving have been a problem. In general, arrests are down from the same period last year, Sung said.

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There were three crashes attributed to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, frequently called DUI, said Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Rick Sung. However, there have been no injuries or fatalities so far.

Sung said the cumulative 47 arrests are down from 2010, when 73 DUI arrests were reported. The California Highway Patrol reports a similar trend in decreased arrests and crashes.

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CHP Sgt. Trent Cross said that its arrests in the nine Bay Area counties were 129 by Sunday at 6 a.m., compared with 150 impaired drivers arrested in 2010. During the same period last year, there was one fatality, he said.

Here is the breakdown of arrests compiled by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department among the 15 participating agencies for Saturday:

Campbell police—4 arrests
CHP San Jose office— 7 arrests
Los Altos police—1 arrest
Milpitas police—1 arrest
Morgan Hill police—1 arrest
Mountain View police—1 arrest
San Jose police—10 arrests
Sunnyvale Public Safety—2 arrest
Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department—2 arrest

No further information was available on the CHP arrest locations, which are mostly in Santa Clara County south of Mountain View and north of Gilroy, nor the Sheriff's Department arrests, which would also encompass the contract cities of Cupertino, Los Altos Hills and Saratoga. The City of Santa Clara is not included in Saturday's compilation.

Sung encouraged people to call 911 if they see a suspected drunken driver, to prevent potential crashes, injuries and fatalities.


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