Sacto 9-1-1

By Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com

Redding police were busy Friday evening with two vehicle crashes along Churn Creek Road, the first of which left an 88-year-old woman dead.

Police responded to that crash - within the gated community of Shasta Hills Estates - at 6:39 p.m., according to a release.

Investigators determined that Evelyn Demarco, 88, of Redding was driving a 1997 Cadillac Deville on a private road within the community when she lost control, went off the roadway and hit a tree.

She was not wearing a seatbelt and received fatal injuries.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

Motorists in the Sacramento region fared slightly better than last year during the Independence Day maximum enforcement period conducted by the California Highway Patrol and area law enforcement agencies.

However, officials say statewide statistics point out the critical need to buckle up.

CHP spokeswoman Jaime Coffee said the number of roadway fatalities in the agency's Valley Division - which covers the greater Sacramento region - was down, with two reported this July 4 weekend compared with six during the same period in 2010.

The number of arrests made by Valley Division CHP officers for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs also was down slightly, from 179 last year to 177 this year. Coffee said the DUI arrest figures do not include DUI arrests made by other law enforcement agencies in the region.

By Ben Schenkel
bschenkel@sacbee.com

During her attempted getaway from a bar fight, a Redding woman reportedly struck a middle-aged passerby with her vehicle.

The non-fatal incident occurred just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Redding Police Department news release, outside Bert and Ernie's Bar at 825 Industrial St.

Officers said they responded to a call about an altercation at the bar, involving a number of female patrons. When bouncers tried to intervene, the women reportedly took their dispute to the parking lot.

Two men were arrested for suspicion of drunken driving in a road rage incident on Highway 50 early this morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The wild driving began near Sunrise Boulevard on westbound Highway 50 and continued toward the Bradshaw Road off-ramp. Near the Bradshaw Road exit, the trailing car bumped the car in front.

That maneuver only sent the ramming car out of control and caused it to overturn. The car in the lead exited at Bradshaw and stopped, apparently in sight of those in the crashed car.

A DUI crackdown in Sacramento County over Memorial Day weekend resulted in 71 arrests of drivers under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to provisional data from the region's "Avoid the Capital 17" anti-DUI task force.

The DUI campaign included one sobriety checkpoint, two special DUI saturation patrols and officers on routine patrol looking out for impaired drivers from Friday night through Monday, according to an Avoid task force news release. Funding for the campaign was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

There was also one reported DUI-related fatality in Elk Grove, according to the provisional data.

Law enforcement officials will conduct more anti-DUI efforts in Sacramento County and the surrounding region during the Fourth of July weekend and an 18-day campaign in August ending Labor Day weekend, according to the release.

Yolo County law enforcement officers have made "a significant number of DUI arrests" over the Memorial Day weekend as part of routine traffic enforcement and special anti-drunk driving deployments, officials said.

Davis Police Sgt. Rod A. Rifredi said that from midnight Friday through midnight Saturday seven motorists were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Eight county police agencies are participating in the DUI enforcement effort.

Today, extra DUI patrols will be in Woodland, West Sacramento, Davis, Winters and unincorporated Yolo County.

Funding is being provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

- Bee Metro staff

Related story:

Authorities step up efforts to curb DUIs for Memorial Day weekend

Folsom police made two arrests and issued 13 citations during a drunk driving checkpoint over the weekend.

The driving under the influence checkpoint was conducted from 7 p.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday near Greenback Lane and Madison Avenue. A total of 582 vehicles were screened.

CHP The California Highway Patrol today identified the man arrested for suspicion of drunken driving after a Friday crash in El Dorado County that killed the passenger in his vehicle.

Sean Perry, 43, of Chico, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in the single-car crash on a rural El Dorado County road, according to the CHP.

The two men were in a BMW traveling west on Pleasant Valley Road around 12:25 a.m. when their vehicle failed to negotiate a curve in the road about a quarter-mile east of Mother Lode Drive.

By Laurel Rosenhall
lrosenhall@sacbee.com

A single-car crash on a rural El Dorado County road Friday night has left one man dead and another seriously injured and arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The two men were in a BMW traveling west on Pleasant Valley Road around 12:25 a.m. when they failed to negotiate a curve in the road about a quarter-mile east of Mother Lode Drive, said CHP Sgt. John MacDowell. The car hit an embankment and then a tree before landing in a field.

The passenger, Timothy Chapman, a 40-year-old from El Dorado, died. The driver was airlifted to Sutter Roseville with major injuries, including serious head trauma, MacDowell said.

A 63-year-old Newcastle man has been arrested by Auburn police after he allegedly hit two vehicles and a metal gate while driving drunk Tuesday evening, according to an Auburn Police Department news release.

Auburn police officers responded to the area of Sacramento Street and Auburn Folsom Road at about 6 p.m. Tuesday, after receiving a report of a suspected drunk driver who had been involved in multiple hit-and-run collisions, the release states.

Officers found that the suspect had hit two motorists on Auburn Folsom Road and driven through a gate in a residential neighborhood, according to the release. When officers located the suspect and attempted to stop him, he led them on a brief pursuit.

A Coronado man was arrested by Truckee police following a collision in which a pedestrian was seriously injured Sunday night.

Police received a report at 8:10 p.m. of a collision involving a vehicle and a pedestrian at 11700 Donner Pass Road, in front of the Sunset Mobile Home Park. Officers located the parties, including an injured pedestrian, an adult male, who was taken by Tahoe Forest Hospital by ambulance and later to Renown Hospital in Reno for treatment of injuries suffered in the collision, according to a Truckee Police Department news release.

The driver of the vehicle, Ronald Sosnowski, 60, was later arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. Police said the collision is still under investigation. Anyone who witnessed it is asked to call Sgt. Robert Womack at (530) 550-2335.

Three people hit by a suspected drunken driver suffered major injuries Sunday night in a Yolo County crash, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A car traveling eastbound on Highway 128 outside of Winters near Pleasants Valley Road about 7:30 p.m. crossed over the double yellow line when the driver, Fernando Ramirez, 31, of Esparto, made an unsafe turn, a CHP press release states. His car struck another vehicle driven by Megan Espinosa, 19, of Vacaville.

The CHP said that Ramirez displayed "signs and symptoms" of intoxication and was arrested on felony driving under the influence causing injury. He suffered major injuries.

Espinosa and two passengers in her car, Tiffany Canerday, 17, and Michelle Canerday, 21, both of Vacaville, suffered major injuries.

By Matt Kawahara
mkawahara@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police conducted a DUI warrant sweep on Wednesday, arresting one person on an active warrant for a DUI-related offense, according to a police department release.

Officers participating in the sweep attempted to locate individuals who had active warrants for DUI-related offenses, according to the release.

Officers attempted to serve a total of seven warrants throughout Citrus Heights.

The sweep, geared toward reducing the city's number of habitual DUI offenders, was funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Call The Bee's Matt Kawahara, (916) 321-1015.

By Bee Staff

The Sacramento Police Department will hit hard next week at drunken drivers, sellers of liquor to minors and people who have DUI warrants.

The police also urged those celebrating St. Patrick's Day with alcohol to designate a sober driver.

The department news release said these enforcement efforts will be pursed during the week of March 13:

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

A drunk-driving suspect nearly escaped as he was being delivered to jail today, Sacramento police reported.

Following a car crash shortly before 4 a.m., the driver was suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was arrested in the 3900 block of Marysville Boulevard.

The suspect - identified as Maurice Henton, 27 - slipped one hand out of his handcuffs while in the patrol car, police said.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol said a drunk driver ran his pickup truck into a drainage ditch Thursday night in Olivehurst, causing major injuries to his passenger.

The CHP said that Michael W. Shaeffer, 38, of Olivehurst was southound on Feather River Boulevard, south of Myrna Avenue, near the Yuba County Airport, about 7 p.m., when due to his level of intoxication, he allowed his pickup to leave the right side of the roadway.

Shaeffer was able to pull back from the edge, but lost control and the truck ran off the left side of Feather River Boulevard. The front of Shaeffer's truck hit a partially filled drainage ditch.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County Coroner's Department has released the name of a pedestrian killed Sunday night on Northgate Boulevard.

He was identified as James Lindell Shiloh, 18, of Sacramento. Shiloh was walking across Northgate Boulevard when he was hit by a pickup driver, who was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, Sacramento police said.

Shiloh was struck at 7:12 p.m. by a maroon Chevy pickup heading northbound in the 3500 block of Northgate, police said. The pedestrian was walking outside the crosswalk, according to police.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

South Lake Tahoe police arrested a heavy equipment operator Sunday night on suspicion of driving under the influence and other charges after he turned his front end loader on an officer's car and tried to ram it, according to a press release.

Steve Beattie, 55, was taken into custody after the 9 p.m. confrontation with officers that came to a conclusion on dead-end Terry Lane. He was booked on charges of drunken driving, assault with a deadly weapon on an officer and felony evasion of officers, the press release said.

Police said they responded to a call of a snow-removal tractor knocking over a light standard and traffic control signs on Ski Run Boulevard. They said that when officers tried to stop the vehicle, the driver refused to stop, then flipped them the middle finger and drove his vehicle toward a police car driven by Officer Ray Poole.

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

The driver in a wreck that killed a 23-year-old Elk Grove man Tuesday night has been booked into the Sacramento County Jail on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving, authorities said today.

Joshua Phillip Barksdale (left), 22, was arrested and booked Thursday afternoon after being treated for moderate injuries in the crash, which killed Jarrod Francis Harrington, a passenger in the truck Barksdale was driving, Elk Grove police said.

The crash occurred in the 9300 block of Calvine Road about 10:35 p.m. Tuesday when a red Ford pickup hit a retaining wall and flipped over, trapping Harrington under the vehicle.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A suspected drunken driver allegedly rammed an Auburn police car twice after he nearly entered the freeway in the wrong direction.

Police said that about 10:30 p.m. Thursday, a man driving an older Chevrolet pickup northwest on Lincoln Way in Old Town Auburn failed to stop at a stop sign at Maple Street. At that point, the driver turned west onto the eastbound Interstate 80 offramp.

Auburn Police Sgt. Dale Hutchins said he observed the driver's actions and activated his emergency lights. The officer also positioned his vehicle behind the pickup as the man made a U-turn on the onramp.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

An off-duty Sacramento Police Officer who suffered major injuries after being hit by a suspected drunken driver in Roseville remains hospitalized in intensive care today after undergoing surgery Saturday night, a police spokeswoman said.

Officer Bobby Daniels, 47, is "doing better" a day after he was struck by a motorist who drove his sport utility vehicle onto the sidewalk in front of a Chili's Restaurant shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday, Sacramento Police spokeswoman Officer Laura Peck said.

Peck said additional details are not available.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Sacramento police said today that a woman was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after she allegedly ran into a patrol car.

Police said that officers were stopped at 17th and K streets about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when the woman attempted to drive around their squad car. However, her vehicle hit the police car and she did not stop.

Police said the officers followed. They saw the driver and passenger get out of their car and begin to leave, police said.

The driver, Andrea Marie Derich, 31, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and hit and run involving property damage, both misdemeanors, police said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

Comments on this post have been closed because of personal attacks. -Linda Gonzales, digital team leader, lgonzales@sacbee.com

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

Woodland police arrested three drunk drivers on New Year's Eve and early today, including one who crashed into a pole, according to authorities.

A total of 18 officers were assigned to patrol during a saturation effort designed to cut down on holiday drunk driving between 5 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. today. They booked three suspected drunk drivers, including Jorge Hernandez, 40, of Woodland.

Police allege that at 3:40 a.m. a California Highway Patrol Officer reported an automobile accident at County Road 102 and Maxwell Avenue. Woodland police responded to investigate the scene where they said Hernandez crashed into a signal light at the southeast corner of the intersection.

Woodland police also arrested four people suspected of being drunk in public, one for vandalism and one for transportation of a controlled substance and possessing a switchblade.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Carlos Alcalá
calcala@sacbee.com

Redding police were busy Friday night with a spate of five auto collisions triggered by three drivers believed to have been under the influence.

The collisions occurred over the course of just 90 minutes.

In one case, police used a Taser to subdue a suspect attempting to leave the scene.

In that incident, Shane Austin Collins, 24, of Redding, was believed to have lost control of his vehicle, which struck a guardrail around 8:35 p.m.

Collins, carrying his one-month-old baby, tried to leave the scene with the infant's mother, who was not identified.

After an officer tried to detain Collins, police reported that he challenged the officer to fight, handed the baby to its mother and attempted to run away.

After police used a Taser on him, Collins was taken to a hospital for evaluation and then booked on suspicion of resisting a peace officer, child endangerment, violation of probation and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

About 40 minutes earlier, Jaclyn Marie Pruitt, 29, of Redding, was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment after her car struck a tree in a single-vehicle accident.

In the final incident, a 2010 Ford F 250 driven by Stephen Best, 56, of Burney, was involved in three separate hit-and-run incidents.

The Ford truck hit a GMC Jimmy which, in turn, struck a Ford Ranger. Best's car left the scene and sideswiped a Jeep Liberty before running into a light pole, police said.

Redding Officer K.C. Marks saw Best driving away from the last crash, stopped him and arrested him.

Drivers of the Jimmy and Ranger were taken to the hospital complaining of pain.

Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The California Highway Patrol announced that a yearlong campaign to prevent people from driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol resulted in more than 1,900 DUI arrests.

The federally funded Border-to-Border DUI Enforcement Campaign began in October 2009 with the goal of reducing the number of alcohol-involved collisions in California resulting in fatalities and injuries. To that end, the CHP conducted approximately 240 sobriety/driver license checkpoints, 100 DUI task force operations and more that 50,000 hours of proactive DUI enforcement patrols, according to a news release.

"All of these DUI enforcement efforts serve three major purposes: deterrence, removal of impaired drivers from the road and educating the motoring public," CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a written statement.

The agency also implemented a statewide media campaign, and conducted local traffic safety presentations and Designated Driver Programs.

Officials recently announced that the state, for the fourth year in a row, recorded a decline in deaths related to driving under the influence.

The enforcement campaign was funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A seriously injured 5-year-old child was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento after he was hit by a motorist who Woodland police said was driving under the influence.

Police were called to the 700 block of East Street shortly before 6:30 p.m. Saturday after the boy, Josue Navarette, was taken into a nearby residence. Medical personnel had asked for an air ambulance to take the semi-conscious child to the medical center, but none was available. He was transported, instead, by ambulance to the medical center's trauma center.

The driver of the car, 20-year-old Francisco Pinon-Martinez of Woodland, was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving without a license.

It was one of two cases in which children were struck by DUI motorists in Woodland this weekend, police said. Early today - sometime after midnight - a 1-year-old was hit by his father in the parking lot of the Masonic Lodge in Woodland, police said. That father was booked into jail on DUI counts while his son was in good condition at UC Davis Medical Center, police said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Woodland Police at (530) 661-7800. Callers may remain anonymous.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.

By Loretta Kalb
lkalb@sacbee.com

A 27-year-old Woodland man was booked into the Yolo County jail on felony drunken driving charges after police said he ran over his 1-year-old son at the Masonic Lodge parking lot just before 1 a.m. today.

Arrested was Alejandro Ramirez Lopez.

Police said the toddler, Christian Ramirez, was hit by his father's vehicle at the lodge on Palm Avenue in Woodland.

Woodland police said the child was first taken to Woodland Memorial Hospital, where police were notified at 12:53 a.m.

The child was taken later by helicopter to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he was listed in good condition Sunday night.

Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 321-1073.

Associated Press, Bee Staff

A Sacramento physician will be arraigned next month in Sutter County Superior Court accused of causing injuries in a drunken driving crash while heading to work on a day he had five procedures scheduled.

The state also is trying to suspend his license to practice medicine.

Charles Igwegbe (left) will be arraigned on two felony counts of causing injury by driving under the influence, court records show. He waived a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Igwegbe's nurse testified at a California Medical Board hearing in July that the gastroenterologist was scheduled to perform five procedures at his Yuba City office May 25, the Associated Press reported.

Authorities say Igwegbe hit a car, causing injuries to its driver that a lawsuit said would result in "some permanent disability," the AP reported.

The board is seeking to suspend Igwegbe's license.

According to the CHP at the time of Igwegbe's arrest, a Honda Accord driven by Igwegbe, 48, a Sacramento resident with a medical practice in Yuba City, was traveling north on Highway 99 north of Riego Road about 8:25 a.m. May 25. Several citizens reported that the vehicle was swerving between the northbound lanes.

Igwegbe's vehicle crossed a dirt center divider, broadsiding a Nissan Altima driven by a 30-year-old Olivehurst woman, who was headed south on Highway 99, a CHP news release said.

Several citizens and an off-duty CHP officer witnessed the collision and stopped to render aid.

CHP officials said an investigation determined Igwegbe had consumed alcohol. According to the release, Igwegbe was uncooperative and resisted a CHP officer and the off-duty officer.

Igwegbe reportedly stated that he was a doctor and was en route to Rideout Memorial Hospital to perform several surgical procedures.

Phone messages left with Igwegbe's attorney were not immediately returned.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

The Sacramento County District Attorney's office is dismissing 79 cases after an extensive review of the work of a former Sacramento police officer who allegedly falsified his reports.

Six of those dismissals already have been processed, District Attorney Jan Scully said in a morning news conference. The rest will be thrown out at a 1:30 p.m. Superior Court hearing.

In the 79 cases, most of which involved charges of driving under the influence, prosecutors and police officials said they identified marked discrepancies between the written reports of former Sacramento police Officer Brandon Mullock and video captured by his patrol cruiser's in-car camera system.

Those discrepancies damaged Mullock's credibility, so the cases therefore could not be prosecuted practically or ethically, Scully said.

Most of the 79 cases already have gone through the system, and in many, the defendants pled guilty. Dismissing those cases - and wiping them clean from the defendants' records - is an "extraordinary step," Scully said.

"But we are bound by our ethical obligation," she said. "That's what justice calls for."

Scully's office began reviewing cases in which Mullock was the primary or arresting officer - or those in which he had been subpoenaed or called to the stand - in June after an attorney in a DUI case said he noticed discrepancies.

Nearly a dozen people from the DA's office and the Police Department spent "hundreds" of hours reviewing more than 200 cases, Scully said.

The review involved cases spanning Mullock's short career with the Police Department, from February 2007 to January 2010.

Mullock was placed on administrative leave in January after he was accused of brandishing a gun in an off-duty, unrelated incident, and ultimately resigned from the agency late last month.

Scully said police officials are working on their own investigation into Mullock's conduct and will submit a report to the DA's office.

Prosecutors then will decide whether to file criminal charges against Mullock. He could face misdemeanor charges of filing false police reports and felony charges of perjury, Scully said.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

District Attorney Jan Scully this morning will present findings of an investigation into arrests by a former Sacramento Police officer.

The DA is expected to reveal the number of cases that will be dismissed as a result of the investigation into arrests made by former Officer Brandon Mullock.

Prosecutors dismissed two DUI cases in June after finding discrepancies between his written reports and video/audio recordings of the arrests.

They have reviewed nearly 200 of the officer's cases, a spokeswoman for Scully said.

At a 10 a.m. news conference today, Scully will speak about the number of cases dismissed as a result of the department's investigation, the nature of the discrepancies discovered, detail specific cases and answer questions, the spokeswoman said.

Mullock, who joined the Police Department three years ago, has quit the force, police said. Mullock, 25, had been on administrative leave since January, when he was arrested after allegedly brandishing a gun in an off-duty argument.

He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of using offensive words in public in connection with that incident.

Scully said her office began reviewing Mullock's police arrests after they found two DUI cases in which his written reports varied greatly from video and audio tapes provided by his patrol cruiser's in-car camera system,

Sacramento police officials assembled a task force to review Mullock's work and have shared that information with the District Attorney's Office.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Citrus Heights police made 16 arrests in DUI warrant sweeps and stakeouts during the past week.

The campaign targeting people with a history of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs began Sept. 5 and concluded Sunday.

Officers attempted to contact individuals who had confirmed active warrants for DUI-related offenses. They also conducted various stakeouts in an attempt to locate habitual offenders who continue to drive even through their drivers licenses have been suspended.

The operation involved two scheduled DUI warrant sweeps and four separate DUI stakeouts, according to a Police Department news release.

Officers assigned to the warrant sweeps attempted to serve a total of 83 warrants citywide. They arrested 11 people for active DUI warrants and one person for a drug-related offense. Three citations also were issued during the warrant sweep.

Officers assigned to the DUI stakeouts stopped three vehicles, arrested four people for DUI-related warrants and impounded one vehicle.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

An 18-day crackdown on impaired drivers in Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties resulted in the arrest of 73 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The 2010 Summer/Labor Day Holiday campaign was conducted Aug. 20-Sept. 6. Officers with law enforcement agencies throughout the three-county area made the arrests during sobriety checkpoints, special saturation patrols and routine patrols. Officials reported that 94 DUI arrests occurred during the same period in 2009.

This year's campaign included the arrest of an 18-year-old driver on suspicion of felony DUI after the driver led police on a high-speed chase through residential and rural areas.

At 11:58 p.m. Saturday, a Marysville police officer who was working a DUI saturation patrol attempted to stop a speeding motorist. When the driver failed to yield, a pursuit began.

The driver, later identified a Cody Henry Smith of Marysville, ran nine stop signs as several officers gave chase, according to a Marysville Police Department news release. He is accused of traveling more than 100 mph in a residential area and 140 mph on a rural highway before crashing his vehicle.

Police said Smith and two passengers left the scene on foot. One passenger suffered moderate injuries.

A Marysville police officer suffered minor injuries while trying to subdue Smith and one passenger, the news release says. The second passenger was not caught but has been identified, police said.

Smith was booked into the Yuba County Jail on suspicion of felony DUI causing injury and felony evading a peace officer causing injury. He is being held on $100,000 bail.

Officials said similar anti-DUI efforts are planned for Halloween, Thanksgiving Eve and the December holiday period.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bee Staff

Two motorcycle safety operations by the Sacramento Police Department last month resulted in the recovering of a stolen motorcycle, eight DUI arrests, 20 vehicles impounded and more than 170 citations issues for various violations, the department reported.

The operations were operations were conducted Aug. 16-19 and Aug. 28-29 at various locations in the city.

According to the Office of Traffic Safety, motorcycle fatalities have been on the rise in California, increasing 175 percent in the last decade, rising from 204 killed in 1998 to 560 killed in 2008, the Police Department said in a news release.

Riders can get training through the California Motorcyclist Safety Program. Information and training locations are available at www.CA-msp.org or 1-877-RIDE411 (1-877-743-3411).

Funding for the enforcement program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com

A motorcyclist died Tuesday night after a chain reaction crash that began with a suspected drunk driver crashing, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The CHP gave this account of the events leading to the fatal crash:

The collisions began at about 10 p.m. on Interstate 505 near Winters when a car being driven southbound by Thomas M. Roberts, 50, of Newark, struck the center median, the CHP said. His car then went out of control and hit a guardrail at the beginning of the bridge abutment over Putah Creek.

The car then spun back into the traffic lanes and was hit from behind by another southbound car. The two cars were then blocking two lanes and a third car then struck one of the disabled cars.

A motorcyclist traveling southbound attempted to avoid the smashup by going around the cars using the right shoulder. However, he lost control, hit the bridge abutment and was thrown into the creek, said CHP officer Phil Gruidl.

The motorcyclist was identified by the Solano County Coroner as Oscar Alfaro, 48, of Antioch. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the CHP said.

Roberts was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, the CHP said. He suffered minor injuries.

The CHP said there were five passengers in his car. Two passengers in his car, including a four-month-old child, suffered major injuries.

Passengers and drivers in both of the other cars suffered moderate or minor injuries.

The freeway was shut down at the location for three hours.

Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to call the Woodland CHP office at (530) 662-4685.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Law enforcement agencies in a five-county area arrested 115 people for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol during Independence Day weekend.

Collaborative efforts in Sacramento, Placer, Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties were part of a campaign involving sobriety checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols to reduce the number of traffic deaths and injuries caused by impaired drivers.

Between midnight Friday and midnight Monday, 59 DUI arrests were reported in Sacramento County, 33 in Placer County, and a total of 23 in Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties. No deaths attributed to drunken drivers were reported in those areas.

Law enforcement officials plan to conduct more such efforts in partnership with a nationwide 18-day campaign in August ending with the Labor Day weekend.

Motorists are encouraged to report impaired or dangerous drivers by calling 911.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Andy Furillo
afurillo@sacbee.com

Seattle Seahawks running back Quinton Ganther (photo left) was arrested early today in downtown Sacramento on suspicion of driving under the influence, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Ganther, 25, who gained 201 yards last year for the Washington Redskins before he was acquired in the offseason by the Seahawks, was taken into custody by the California Highway Patrol at 3:15 a.m. at 10th and I streets, according to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.

Curran said that Ganther, a Utah graduate who was born and raised and played high school ball in the East Bay, was released from the downtown jail around 7:30 a.m.

Call The Bee's Andy Furillo, (916) 321-1141.

By Kim Minugh and Hudson Sangree
kminugh@sacbee.com

Famed Placerville-raised painter Thomas Kinkade has been arrested for allegedly driving drunk outside Carmel, according to the California Highway Patrol.

A Monterey County sheriff's deputy initially pulled over Kinkade's Mercedes Benz for a vehicle code violation Friday night, said CHP Officer Robert Lehman. After making contact with the 52-year-old Kinkade, the deputy suspected that he was drunk, Lehman said.

The deputy called the CHP to assist, and an officer performed tests to determine that Kinkade was impaired, Lehman said. The CHP officer arrested Kinkade just after 10 p.m., Lehman said.

Kinkade was booked into the Monterey County Jail on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, Lehman said.

The arresting officer reported that Kinkade was "very polite" during the exchange, Lehman said.

Kinkade did submit to a blood test, Lehman said; however, the CHP is not releasing his blood-alcohol level.

Kinkade, dubbed the "Painter of Light," is the most-collected artist of modern times and likely the best-selling in history. Millions of his paintings are displayed in homes across the nation.

His specialties are light-filled scenes of cottages, lighthouses and chapels, and seaside and pastoral landscapes.

A nationwide network of art galleries specializes in his brand, and officially endorsed Web sites sell Kinkade-themed goods.

Kinkade was born in Sacramento and grew up in Placerville.

He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.

By Bee Staff

Citrus Heights police officers arrested two DUI suspects at a DUI/driver's license checkpoint the police department conducted Thursday night and into this morning.

More than 1,400 vehicles rolled through the checkpoint at Sunrise Boulevard and Oak Avenue between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m., according to a police department news release.

Officers also issued 36 citations and ordered 11 vehicles to be towed, the release states.

By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

Four people were arrested during a Cinco de Mayo "saturation patrol" conducted by a team of Yolo County law enforcement agencies to get intoxicated drivers off the road.

Officers conducted 52 vehicle stops and nine drivers were put through field sobriety tests, according to a news release. Four were arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

Officials said one of the drivers arrested for driving under the influence had a warrant for a similar offense in Sacramento County.

One vehicle was impounded for 30 days because the driver's license had been suspended or revoked. Six drivers were cited for other vehicle code violations.

Wednesday's saturation patrol was supported by the AVOID the "8" program under a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.

By Bill Lindelof

blindelof@sacbee.com

With what police said was a blood alcohol content of nearly four times the legal limit to drive, authorities say that Stephen Paladino (photo left) was in no condition to drive or deliver groceries.

Paladino, 53, was arrested Tuesday for driving under the influence. Police said his blood alcohol content was .30 percent, far over the legal driving limit of .08.

The arrest was Paladino's fourth for driving under the influence, police said. It was his sixth arrest for alcohol-related offenses in the past three years, according to a Folsom Police Department news release.

Paladino's arrest was prompted by a woman who said a man who appeared to be drunk tried to deliver groceries to her home.

Paladino, police said, intended to deliver groceries to his ex-wife. However, he went to a stranger's door carrying groceries, including a watermelon.

The woman called police to report the incident, telling dispatchers the man who showed up at her door appeared to be extremely tipsy.

She provided a license plate for a gold sports utility vehicle and officers began searching.

Police said they tried to pull Paladino over about two blocks from his Briggs Ranch home. Police said he ignored the squad car's emergency lights and siren for several hundred yards.

They also allege he gunned his SUV up the driveway and into his open garage. An officer ran to Paladino's driver's side door and he was taken into custody.

By Bill Lindelof and Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com

The Orangevale man killed Wednesday night in a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver on Highway 50 has been identified as Bruce Michael Bone, 41, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.

Bone died at the scene of the 11 p.m. collision on westbound Highway 50 west of Red Hawk Parkway.

The California Highway Patrol said that Theresa Ghersanich, 55, of Placerville, was driving her sport-utility vehicle eastbound in the westbound lanes when she collided with a car driven by Bone.

Ghersanich suffered major injuries and was taken by helicopter to a hospital.

She was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, the CHP said.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.

By Kim Minugh
kminugh@sacbee.com

An arraignment scheduled this morning for Sacramento Kings player Andres Nocioni (left) has been continued for a second time and is now scheduled for February.

Nocioni was arrested Nov. 5 on suspicion of driving under the influence in downtown Sacramento.

Nocioni is scheduled to appear in court again Feb. 3.

He faces two counts of driving under the influence and one count of driving without a valid license, according to Sacramento County Superior Court records.

Previous coverage:

Nocioni's DUI arrest extends Sacramento Kings' streak of bad news - Nov. 6, 2009

From Bill Lindelof:

A holiday enforcement period designed to put drivers suspected of being impaired by alcohol or drugs behind bars has ended with nearly 400 motorists arrested for driving under the influence.

Officers representing 15 law enforcement agencies in Sacramento County made 395 arrests from Dec. 18 to Jan. 3. Enforcement included sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and routine patrol.

In 2008, 526 DUI arrests were made in Sacramento County during the same period.

One 2009 death was attributed to drunk driving, according to the DUI task force that coordinated the effort. That fatality involved a drunk driver in Walnut Grove on Saturday night.

From Dec. 16 through Jan. 3, the Sacramento Police Department's focus on DUI enforcement resulted in the arrest of 108 motorists suspected of drinking and driving. Ten DUI arrests resulted at three sobriety checkpoints where 2,299 cars drove through.

There were also 30 DUI arrests during saturation patrols, and patrol officers made another 68 DUI arrests.

From Dixie Reid:

Citrus Heights police arrested three drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence and towed 15 vehicles during a DUI/driver's license checkpoint Saturday night at Greenback Lane and Arcadia Drive.

Officers issued 24 citations between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m.

In all, 1,523 vehicles passed through the intersection during the six-hour period. Cars were stopped at random.

From Bill Lindelof

A Gridley man has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after the pickup he was driving at the Gray Lodge Wildlife Area on Monday night tipped over in a canal, drowning a passenger.

About 10:30 p.m. Monday, Aaron J. Weatherford, 25, was driving along a dirt levee road at the wildlife area, 60 miles north of Sacramento in Butte County, when his pickup veered to the right, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The truck went into a canal and rolled onto its right side. Weatherford and two passengers were able to get out, but a third passenger was trapped inside the rear of the cab.

The pickup rolled onto its roof and became completely submerged.

The trapped man who drowned was identified by the Butte County coroner as Nicholas Howell, 27, of Sutter in Sutter County, the CHP said.

The two other passengers were treated for minor injuries.

Weatherford was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. An investigation is being conducted to determine whether to charge him with gross vehicular manslaughter.

From Bee staff:

A suspected drunken driver was arrested Thursday afternoon after reportedly striking a woman twice with her car after a collision on Watt Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bianca Carranza, 19, of Sacramento was arrested on El Camino Avenue after fleeing the collision, according to a CHP news release, which provided these details:

About 3:08 p.m., Carranza was driving a blue 1999 Ford Contour northbound on Watt Avenue just north of Kings Way when she struck the rear of a silver 1997 Ford Taurus. After the collision, the victim, a 21-year-old Sacramento woman, exited her vehicle and tried to talk to Carranza.

While the victim was out of her car, Carranza backed up the Contour, turned to the right and began to accelerate in attempt to flee the scene. Carranza's vehicle struck the victim and knocked her to the ground. The suspect then backed up her vehicle and drove forward again, striking the victim a second time. The victim's body came to rest in the No. 3 lane of northbound Watt Avenue.

Carranza fled the scene in her car and was later located on El Camino Avenue just east of Eastern Avenue. It was also determined that Carranza struck a light pole a short distance from where officers found her.

Carranza was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving with injuries, felony hit and run and assault with a deadly vehicle, CHP officials said.

The victim was transported to Mercy San Juan Medical Hospital with major head injuries and is listed in critical condition, according to the CHP.

The collision is still under investigation.

Anyone with information about the collision is asked to call the CHP at (916) 338-6710 or after hours, (916) 861-1300.

Bee Staff

A 41-year-old man is facing potential DUI and obstructing police charges after a traffic accident last week in Roseville that sent two other people to the hospital, according to police and jail records.

Robert Bewley drove into the rear of a vehicle waiting on a stoplight at the intersection of Foothills and Junction boulevards around 6:20 a.m. Thursday, according to a Roseville police spokeswoman.

Bewley, driving a 2006 Ford F-350 pickup, set off a chain reaction that involved two other vehicles, the spokeswoman said.

She said Bewley "appeared highly intoxicated. He threatened and refused to comply with officers, and was eventually subdued after officers used a Taser on him."

Bewley was transported by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center for medical clearance and then booked into the Placer County Jail on suspicion of DUI causing injury, and obstructing/resisting executive officers, she said.

The driver and a passenger in the vehicle that Bewley hit were transported to Sutter Roseville Medical Center with what appeared to be minor injuries, she said.

The other people involved in the chain-reaction collision did not report being injured, she said.

From Bill Lindelof:

Eleven people on probation and under order not to drink have been arrested, including one man who waited only minutes after meeting law enforcement before he bought alcohol.

The man, who walked across the street and bought two 20-ounce beers and a pint of vodka after meeting with a probation officer, was arrested on a probation violation as part of the sting conducted last Friday. In addition, nine people were arrested for driving on a suspended license and one who tested positive for alcohol.

The sting, in conjunction with Sacramento police, was part of the Sacramento County Probation Department's program of monitoring convicted drunken drivers who have multiple offenses.

Using a new computer program, the department's DUI Intensive Unit identified probationers with both multiple drunken driving arrests and multiple drunk in public arrests, according to a probation department press release.

On the day of the sting, 70 people on probation were contacted and alcohol screening tests were administered. All had orders to abstain from alcohol and all had suspended driver's licenses.

"This is the first time we've operated a sting in this fashion and are very pleased with the results," said Don Meyer, chief probation officer.

From Loretta Kalb:

A Citrus Heights checkpoint for drunken drivers netted four DUI arrests, 73 citations and 24 vehicle towings, police said today.

The checkpoint at Madison and San Juan avenues started at 8 p.m. Saturday and continued to 2 a.m. today.

About 1,930 vehicles drove through the checkpoint, Citrus Heights Police Sgt. Joshua McVay reported.

Towings can be triggered in cases where drivers are unlicensed.

Funding for the program comes from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From Denny Walsh

A veteran deputy district attorney was arrested on drunken driving charges in midtown Sacramento early this morning, police said.

An officer observed a vehicle being driven erratically by Ross Robert Huggins (photo left) westbound on I Street near 20th Street, according to Sacramento Police Department spokesman Norm Leong.

The officer stopped Huggins at 1:44 a.m. at 19th and J Streets, he said.

"The odor of alcoholic beverage was emanating from the vehicle," Leong said. "Field sobriety tests were conducted and Mr. Huggins was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol."

Huggins, 44, was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail at 3:01 a.m. and was released later Saturday, according to jail online records.

Reached by phone Saturday at his home, Huggins said, "I made a mistake and I'll have to accept the consequences. Beyond that, I'd rather not comment because it's a private matter."

Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office, did not return a call seeking comment.

Huggins did confirm he is currently assigned to the "state-targeted offenses program," a division comprised of five units - prison crimes, vehicle theft, mental health litigation, public assistance fraud and parental child abduction.

He prosecuted crimes against children for a number of years.

He was also the prosecutor of former Kings player Chris Webber and Jason Williams on reckless driving charges in 2000. After a day-long non-jury trial then-Sacramento Superior Court Judge Morrison C. England Jr., now a federal judge, decided they were not guilty.

Huggins, who has been a local prosecutor for more than a decade, graduated from University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1991.

From Chelsea Phua:

A Placer County sheriff's deputy has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level about four times the legal limit, authorities said.

Deputy John Caliguire (left photo) was arrested about 9 a.m. Nov. 7, after someone called authorities to report that a driver was unable to stay in lane in the area of Sunset Boulevard and Topaz Avenue, Rocklin police Sgt. Tom Dwyer said.

By the time officers arrived, the driver had stopped near Coppervale Drive and got out of his Dodge pickup truck, which was rolled up on a portion of the curb, Dwyer said.

According to a police report, Dwyer said the driver, identified as Caliguire, had a "strong odor of alcohol beverage emitting from his person" and had slurred speech - signs of alcohol intoxication. Officers administered a field sobriety test, which Caliguire failed, Dwyer said.

When officers tested him twice using a preliminary alcohol screening device, Rocklin Police Sgt. Chad Butler said Caliguire registered a 0.31 blood-alcohol level the first time and 0.33 the second time.

Sheriff's department spokesman Lt. Jeff Ausnow said the department is aware of Caliguire's arrest.

"We are monitoring his criminal case and an internal investigation may be pending," Ausnow said. "The Placer County Sheriff's Department takes drunk driving very seriously and a violation of this law would be unacceptable behavior for a member of our department."

Caliguire has been working for the sheriff's department for eight years. Ausnow said Caliguire remains on active duty during the investigation, but isn't on a patrol assignment.

Bee Staff

The Citrus Heights Police department will cast a stronger net for DUI drivers, thanks to a $214,276 federal-state grant.

"This grant will enable us to increase our DUI enforcement efforts and improve roadway safety in our community," said Citrus Heights Police Chief Chris Boyd.

The increased traffic enforcement will include DUI and driver's license checkpoints and DUI saturation patrols, according to a news release.

From Andy Furillo:

Sacramento Kings forward Andres Nocioni has been scheduled for a Dec. 21 arraignment in his drunken driving case, a district attorney's spokeswoman said today.

No criminal complaint has yet been filed by prosecutors, Sacramento district attorney's spokeswoman Shelly Orio said.

Nocioni, 29, was arrested Thursday morning on L Street in downtown Sacramento by a police officer who reported that the basketball player's vehicle was weaving.

From Bill Lindeof:

Sacramento Kings forward Andres Nocioni has been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Nocioni, 29, was arrested by Sacramento Police and booked into Sacramento County Jail at 3:30 this morning, according to a Sacramento County Jail Web site.

A Sacramento police spokesman said that at about 2 a.m. an officer noticed a motorist southbound on 15th Street near L Street whose vehicle was weaving within its lane. The officer stopped the car near Ninth and L streets.

The officer noticed that there was an odor of alcohol when speaking with the driver. Nocioni was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

For more on this developing story, click here.

From Kim Minugh

When an off-duty Sacramento County sheriff's deputy approached a driver who appeared to be unnecessarily angry, he found the driver to be holding a can of beer. Trouble ensued.

The deputy was driving on Garden Highway about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when construction crews stopped traffic temporarily, said Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong. He noticed that the driver in the car behind him seemed unusually worked up, yelling at construction workers, Leong said.

The deputy got out of his car and, as he identified himself to 27-year-old Erick Herrera, he noticed Herrera had a beer in his hand, Leong said. Herrera then threw his car in reverse and attempted to flee from the deputy, who grabbed onto the car and was dragged about 50 feet, Leong said.

Herrera finally stopped when the deputy, who suffered minor injuries, ordered him to do so at gunpoint, Leong said. Herrera was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence with injury and assaulting a police officer, he said.

Herrera is being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to booking records.

From Bill Lindelof:

A California Highway Patrol officer pulled a Sacramento man from his burning car today then arrested him for suspicion of driving under the influence.

The CHP said that a Solano County-area motorcycle officer entering Interstate 80 from Interstate 505 between Dixon and Vacaville noticed a speeding westbound car weaving through traffic at about 7:40 p.m.

The car exceeded 100 mph as it approached the Davis Street off-ramp in Vacaville, a CHP press release states. As the driver tried to change lanes one more time, his car struck the rear of another vehicle.

That car, driven by suspect Jericho Lopez, 28, of Sacramento, skidded into the freeway center divider then struck a sound wall on the right side of the roadway.

Lopez' car burst into flames, and the officer pulled him from his car, which became engulfed in fire. Lopez was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, complaining of pain after he was arrested.

The driver of the car hit by Lopez's vehicle declined treatment. The accident is under investigation.

Bee Staff

There's a storm coming for DUI offenders in California in general and Sacramento in particular, according to a series of announcements this week.

The California Highway Patrol and the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced major expansions in apprehension and prosecution of DUI drivers paired with more emphasis on preventive programs.

The latest announced from the CHP was the agency has received nearly $5.6 million for the "Border-to-Border DUI Enforcement Campaign." The overall goal of the campaign is to reduce alcohol-involved collisions and victims, statewide by at least 5 percent.

Earlier today, Sacramento DA Jan Scully announced the receipt of a $1 million grant to form a team for the prosecution and prevention of DUI-related injuries or deaths. The grant also includes funding for education and prevention programs.

Earlier in the week, the CHP announced that the agency has dedicated more than $1 million federal grant money to California's Designated Driver Program through August 2010.

The Designated Driver Program consists of community education presentations and information booths staffed by CHP officers throughout the state

The latest CHP announcement said that in addition to enforcing DUI laws, officers will enforce all other traffic safety laws such as speeding, unsafe passing and occupant violations. The CHP will also conduct sobriety/driver license checkpoints and DUI task force operations.

Last year, according to the Department of Justice, 217,201 people were arrested statewide for DUI; the CHP was responsible for roughly 45 percent of those arrests.

"Sadly, despite aggressive enforcement and public awareness efforts by our officers, impaired driving continues in California," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. "Every time you get behind the wheel after drinking, you put your life and the lives of others at risk."

According to CHP's Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System there were 65,929 fatal and injury collisions in the CHP jurisdiction in 2008.

Among those 9,568 were alcohol-involved collisions. These same collisions resulted in 837 victims killed and 13,140 victims injured.

The CHP also will conduct local traffic safety presentations and Designated Driver Programs to thousands of people throughout California during the course of the grant period which ends September 20, 2010.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Bee Staff

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is muscling up against DUI offenders who kill and maim, thanks to a $1 million boost.

District Attorney Jan Scully announced Friday the receipt of a $1 million grant to form a team for the prosecution and prevention of DUI-related injuries or deaths, according to a news release.

The two-year grant will fund a specialized team to prosecute DUIs that result in death or serious injury and a DUI community awareness program focused on educating juvenile and adult drivers and potential passengers of the dangers of DUI drivers, the release states.

The goal of this two-pronged approach is to not only to reduce the number of DUI-related injuries and fatalities but also to reduce DUI driving in general in Sacramento County, Scully said.

Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Here is how Scully said the prosecution and community awareness programs will work:

Prosecutors assigned to this team will undergo extensive specialized training in the area of collision reconstruction and other scientific disciplines related to such cases.

Each case will be prosecuted "vertically," meaning one prosecutor will litigate the case from beginning to end.

Having specialized prosecutors dedicated to these DUI cases will allow for more effective prosecution and accountability of offenders. Victims and families of victims will also be aided by the vertical prosecution team as they will have a single contact person who knows all the facts and issues of their case from arraignment to judgment and sentencing.

Through the DA's Office, a community services officer will present the driving safety program - "Driving it Home" - to juvenile and adults in Sacramento County.

Using personal stories, graphic video, photo displays, and the wrecked vehicle of a 17 -year old boy who died as a result of his injuries in a collision, "Driving It Home" uses emotional impact to help people understand how their decisions affect others.

Emphasis is also placed on helping potential passengers develop the behavioral tools and confidence to prevent DUI driving and to protect themselves from riding with an intoxicated driver.

"Repeat and felony DUI offenders are over-represented in bad crashes," said Christopher Murphy, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety. "This effort will help prosecute the worst-of-the-worst offenders, while working to keep alcohol involved crashes from happening in the first place."

"This DUI vertical prosecution team will undoubtedly save lives through targeted enforcement and wide-spread education to prevent future DUIs," Scully said.

Bee Staff

The California Highway Patrol announced today that the agency has dedicated more than $1 million federal grant money to California's Designated Driver Program through August 2010.

The Designated Driver Program consists of community education presentations and information booths staffed by CHP officers throughout the state, according to a CHP news release. Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Last year in California, 1,112 people were killed at the hands of an impaired driver. In 2007, another 1,272 victims were killed under similar circumstances, the release states.

"While the numbers of DUI fatalities has dropped in recent years, we still have a long way to go with young males," said Christopher Murphy, Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Last year, according to the Department of Justice, 217,201 people were arrested statewide for DUI. Among those arrested for DUI in California, roughly 80 percent were male, and 53 percent of the men were between the ages of 21 and 34, the release states.

A DUI conviction for a first-time offender could result in jail time, loss of license and fines and penalties of $13,500 or more, the release state4s.

"The best way to avoid becoming a statistic or spending the night in jail is to be responsible and make a plan ahead of time; designate a non-drinking driver," said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow.

From Tony Bizjak and Loretta Kalb:

Nabbing suspected drunk drivers on a Friday night in Sacramento apparently is like shooting fish in a barrel.

The California Highway Patrol proved that again this past weekend when a concentrated strike-force patrol caught 60 people who were believed to be under the influence during an eight-hour effort spread over major freeways and surface streets in central and south Sacramento.

CHP officials flooded freeways and unincorporated areas south of the American River with 25 patrol units focused on impaired driving as part of a periodic effort called R.A.I.D. -- Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers.

Sixty arrests in one night in Sacramento is not unusual, CHP spokesman Mike Bradley said.

"The south Sacramento area is a high-concentration area for alcohol and drug-related driving offenses," Bradley said. "We average in the 50s" during strike-force operations. "That is why Sacramento is one of the crash leaders in the state."

Bradley said arrests peaked about 11 p.m., when after-work drinkers are heading home, and 2 a.m., when the bars close.

Arrests were spread out on highways 99, 50, Interstate 5 and Business 80, as well as major surface streets in unincorporated areas, such as Florin Road, Stockton Boulevard and Franklin Boulevard.

CHP officials said their strike force was financed by anti-drunken driving grants from the state Office of Traffic Safety. That office keeps statistics that show Sacramento city and county have high incidents of alcohol-related injury crashes.

From Joe Davidson:

Onterrio Smith, a former Grant High School football star whose National Football League career was derailed by off-field issues, was jailed overnight by Nevada County Sheriff's Office on a drug charge warrant.

According to the Truckee Police Department, Smith, 28, was a passenger in a Pontiac GT that was pulled over for speeding on Interstate 80 in Truckee at around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday

The driver, John Payne-Johnson Sr., was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, Truckee police Capt. Randy Fenn confirmed to The Bee today. Smith was arrested after a routine check revealed that he had an outstanding warrant from Sacramento for possession of a controlled substance. Smith was booked at 12:26 a.m., Penn said, and bail was set at $15,000.

Smith set regional and Northern California rushing records in 1998 at Grant in becoming the most heavily recruited player in the program's storied history. Smith has admitted in Bee stories in recent years, including last December, that his football career had rough stretches due to his own mistakes.

From Bill Lindelof:

A weekend sweep by the Sacramento County Probation Department resulted in the arrest of three drunk-driving offenders on probation.

Probation officers meet with offenders weekly to make sure they attend court-ordered counseling. If they are not in compliance, probationers are arrested for violating terms of their probation.

Officers attempted to serve 40 warrants. In all, 11 were successfully served.

The sweep was part of a program that targets motorists with several DUI convictions. The program, funded by a California Office of Traffic Safety grant, includes intense supervision of offenders on probation.

"This is the second of several sweeps that have occurred on a weekend," said Bill Hepworth, supervising probation officer for the department's DUI enforcement.

"We're focusing on chronic offenders."

From Li Lou:

Traffic fatalities and drunk driving arrests fell over the Labor Day weekend compared to the previous year, the California Highway Patrol said.

Statewide, 12 motorists were killed in collisions between 6 p.m. Friday and midnight Monday, a 70 percent fall from the 40 fatalities during the same period in 2008.

Among this year's fatalities, nine victims were not wearing seat belts, officials say.

"Wearing a seat belt needs to become a habit for drivers and passengers alike," CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a statement. "Buckle up every trip, every time. It may save your life or the life of someone you love."

DUI arrests during the Labor Day weekend also decreased to 1,417 this year from 2008's 1,586, an 11 percent reduction.

"Making an arrest is far easier than having to make a notification to the family member of someone whose life was cut short by a drunk or drugged driver," said Commissioner Farrow. "For every impaired motorist an officer removes from the roadway, it's potentially a life saved."

The holiday weekend was a Maximum Enforcement Period of CHP, which meant every available CHP officer was on duty. The CHP will participate in three more MEPs this year: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's weekend.

From Phillip Reese:

Police charged an off-duty Sacramento Sheriff's deputy with felony DUI Sunday after she plowed into an open Starbucks coffee shop in Natomas, injuring an elderly woman.

Lisa Gargano, 37, allegedly drove her SUV into the Starbucks near Arena Boulevard and Duckhorn Drive at 8:23 a.m. Sunday. Witnesses said she careened through the parking lot, hitting several curbs and another car before crashing into the building, police spokesman Sgt. Norm Leong said.

Seven or eight people were inside the coffee shop. Most were able to hop out of the way. The elderly woman, who police said was in her 80s, was trapped by the car. She was taken to a nearby hospital, and authorities said her injuries are not life threatening.

A Starbucks employee was also moderately injured.

Authorities believe Gargano, 37, was taking prescription medication, Leong said. He declined to name the specific medication, citing health confidentiality.

Sheriff John McGinness confirmed that Gargano is one of his deputies, but added that he couldn't say much more.

"It's a personnel matter," he said. "And Sacramento police have an open criminal investigation."

Gargano has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, McGinness said. He did not know how long Gargano had been on the force.

Gargano was booked and released from the main jail Sunday afternoon.

Ken Brown, had just ordered his coffee when, he said, "I heard this loud bang and a car came crashing through the window."

Brown jumped out of the way.

"Everybody is screaming, and there's a little old lady pinned against the ground."

Brown said the driver of the car continued to push on the accelerator ever after the car had come to a stop.

"She had a look like she had no idea where she was at," Brown said.

Cops: Angry mom tries to drive son's car - while it's being towed

Bee Staff

As Sacramento County sheriff's deputies tell it, a mother was so enraged that her son was being arrested for DUI and his vehicle towed, that she jumped into the car and tried to start it - while it was hooked to the tow truck.

Here's how deputies said the incident transpired earlier this month:

At about 11 p.m. Aug. 20 at Ellenwood Avenue and Routier Road, a tow truck driver had hooked up the son's vehicle when the mother burst onto the scene, shoved the tow truck driver aside and jumped into the vehicle and tried to start it.

She refused to exit the vehicle and continued to try and start it, an officer tried to grab her. She hit and kicked the officer.

Pepper spry failed to subdue her and she ended up on the sidewalk gutter fighting with the officer for about three minutes until more officers arrived. One officer sustained minor injuries.

Lyubov Gaponova, 37, was booked into jail, the summary states. Sacramento Superior Court records show she faces a felony charge of resisting or deterring an officer.

From Bill Lindelof:

A Sacramento police officer, Christopher Hughes, 39, was booked into Sacramento County Jail over the weekend after being arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, a California Highway Patrol spokeswoman said.

Hughes' vehicle was noticed in a traffic lane at Hazel Avenue and Piedra Way in Orangevale on Saturday afternoon, said CHP officer Lizz Dutton. Hughes was slumped over the steering wheel.

CHP officers suspected Hughes had been drinking and arrested him, Dutton said.

Bee Staff

The idea of a designated driver or taxi ride home from a bar never looked better in Roseville.

The Roseville Police Department said it is adding two extra officers for DUI enforcement every night throughout the Labor Day Weekend to the month.

The department normally has one DUI officer on weeknights and two on weekends, said police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunter.

"We've seen a troubling increase in DUI-related collisions in Roseville, and those collisions tend to increase in the summer months," Roseville Police Chief Mike Blair said in a news release. "We're putting extra officers on the road to keep our roadways safer for all, and to prevent needless injuries and death."

From Julie Johnson:

An unmarked California Highway Patrol car was struck by a woman police suspect was driving under the influence Wednesday morning, a CHP spokeswoman said.

K.C. Tidwell (photo), 30, was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail just before 11:30 a.m. under suspicion for a felony DUI.

Tidwell rear-ended the unmarked Crown Victoria while driving about 40 miles per hour on southbound Highway 99 near Interstate 5, according to Officer Lizz Dutton, spokeswoman for Highway Patrol.

Dutton said someone had called to report a drunk driver in a silver Toyota in the area of the crash.

The lieutenant in the car was not taken to the hospital, though he complained of back and knee pain after the collision, Dutton said.

From Bill Lindelof:

Stepped-up enforcement by the California Highway Patrol over the Fourth of July weekend holiday netted more than 1,000 arrests statewide for suspicion of driving under the influence.

Independence Day is a maximum enforcement period, which this year began 6 p.m. Friday and ended midnight Sunday. All available officers were on the road, including a healthy contingent on July 4 on Highway 50 from El Dorado Hills to Kyburz.

Before the holiday began, CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow warned motorists to buckle up and refrain from drinking and driving. Some failed to heed his words.

During the holiday period, 24 people were killed in traffic accidents, a CHP spokesman said. Fifteen of those motorists were in CHP jurisdiction and 12 were not wearing seat belts.

CHP officers also arrested 1,239 motorists for driving under the influence.

The CHP conducts six maximum enforcement efforts each year during heavy travel periods: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, Fourth of July, Memorial Day and Labor Day.

From Chelsea Phua:

More people have been arrested for driving under the influence during the first 12 hours of California Highway Patrol's maximum enforcement period this Fourth of July weekend than the same period last year, according to CHP data released Saturday night.

Statewide, officers have made 454 DUI arrests between 6 p.m. Friday, when the enforcement period started, and 6 a.m. Saturday, CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said. That's almost a 33 percent increase from the first 12 hours of last year's Independence Day weekend, when 342 DUI arrests were made.

In the CHP's Valley Division, which covers areas including Sacramento and Stockton, 60 DUI arrests have been made. That's more than double the 36 arrests made last year during the same period.

No fatalities have been reported in the Sacramento area, but already crashes this weekend has claimed five lives in the state, CHP officials said. It's not clear if alcohol is involved in the fatal crashes, Clader said.

"If you are going to celebrate, designate a non-drinking driver before the celebration begins," Clader said.

The increase in arrests is disheartening, Clader said, adding that if drivers continue to drink and drive, "we will continue to arrest them before they can injure or kill somebody."

The maximum enforcement period, when all available officers patrol the roadways, continues until midnight on Sunday.

From Bill Lindelof:

A pickup slammed into a tree north of Chico, killing the passenger and resulting in the arrest of the driver for suspicion of drunken driving, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The CHP said that Mathew Smith, 26, of Chico was speeding west on Humboldt Road east of Bissell Court about 8:30 p.m. Saturday when his pickup drifted off the roadway and hit a large pine tree. The impact ripped open the pickup's right side, badly injuring passenger Mathew Hays, 27, of Chico.

Hays was ejected from the truck, and efforts by emergency workers to save him were not successful. The CHP reported that Smith was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter.

From Sarah Frier:

A Sacramento County Sheriff's sergeant will not face another trial for misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence of alcohol, Placer District Attorneys said.

Christopher Dayton Guerrero's first trial ended in a hung jury last month when a Placer County Superior Court jury couldn't agree on counts of DUI and DUI with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher, causing Judge Joseph O'Flaherty to declare a mistrial, a Placer County District Attorney's office news release states.

"Based on the jury's split and on the comments made to us by jurors after the trial, it appears unlikely that the outcome would be any different with another jury in a second trial," said Deputy District Attorney Kyle Jibson, who prosecuted the case.

In the morning on Oct. 4, 2007, Guerrero was stopped by a Roseville police officer on suspicion of DUI. The officer said Guerrero failed field sobriety test and blew a blood alcohol level of .16 percent.

The officer allowed Guerrero to get a ride home without arresting or citing him, the news release states.

Roseville police investigated the incident several days later, after a local TV station reported it, and the District Attorney's office filed DUI charges, the news release states.

Last month, the trial jury was split 8-4 in favor of a not guilty verdict for the DUI charge and 7-5 in favor of a not guilty verdict for DUI with a blood alcohol level of .08 or higher.

"Some of the jurors felt that the officers who were in on the traffic stop should have written their reports immediately after the incident instead of having to rely on their memories several days later," Supervising Deputy District Attorney Ted Peterson said.

From Bill Lindelof:

A state appellate court has upheld a long sentence for a Lincoln man convicted of driving under the influence.

Jeffrey Charles Wren, 38, of Lincoln, had appealed a 27-year sentence for DUI after his conviction in 2008 by a Placer County jury.

A Placer County prosecutor, however, says that though the sentence is severe, it is proper. Wren has a long record of criminal offenses and DUI convictions. He was given the long prison stretch under the state's "three-strikes" felony sentencing guidelines.

"Based on his repeated criminal conduct, he posed a great danger to society with his drinking and driving," said Todd Kuhnen, Placer County deputy district attorney.

Wren argued that one of two previous strikes on his criminal record should not be counted and that the long prison sentence was unconstitutional because it represented cruel and unusual punishment for drunken driving.

But the Third District Court of Appeal stated in its opinion that Wren had three prior convictions for DUI, that he was out on bail when his last offense occurred and that he was convicted in 1991 on two felony counts of child molestation.

A news release from the Placer County District Attorney's Office recounted Wren's lengthy record, starting with a 1992 incident where he was found drunk in the restroom of a Folsom restaurant, a loaded gun in his pocket.

While that case was pending, he violated probation by fleeing the state. Wren then was apprehended in 1995 in Montana for DUI and received an eight-year prison sentence.

In 2000 he failed to register as a sex offender and in the next two years violated parole for alcohol-related reasons. He also was convicted of DUI in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

In 2006 he was arrested on a felony charge of possessing methamphetamine. He was free on bail when he was arrested by the California Highway Patrol near Lincoln for driving under the influence.

With three prior DUI convictions within 10 years, the new charge was a felony. Also, his prior strikes made him subject to the three-strikes law and a candidate for a 25-years-to-life prison sentence.

Appellate court judges noted that the trial court judge stated Wren had a lifestyle of "repeatedly engaging in behavior that only by the sheerest happenstance did not result in death or personal injury."

From The Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

Sonoma County's head of drunken driving and drug addiction programs has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Tom Newell, a supervisor in the Department of Health Services' drug and alcohol services division, was arrested Friday after authorities spotted him driving recklessly just west of Sebastopol.

The California Highway Patrol says they believe Newell was under the influence of a pain killer. Toxicology tests are still pending.

Newell says he's been taking prescription painkillers for chronic pain from five knee surgeries and a hip replacement. He says he wasn't feeling well at the time, which is why he was driving recklessly.

He's due in court on June 18.

From Bill Lindelof:

A man suspected of killing a bicyclist with his pickup Sunday afternoon in Marysville was arrested after fleeing the accident scene and trying to elude authorities.

Killed was Lucinda Gillis, 32, who was struck after a truck allegedly driven by Andrew Cornett ran a red light. Gillis died at Rideout Hospital.

California Highway Patrol officers said that Cornett, 24, was driving southbound on North Beale Road about 3:30 p.m. when he ran a red light at Feather River Boulevard and struck Gillis as she was about to finish crossing the street.

Officers said Cornett fled in his truck but abandoned his vehicle not far from the crash site. Officers surrounded Cornett's home, a CHP report states, and arrested the suspect after he ran to a neighbor's shed.

Cornett was booked into Yuba County Jail on multiple charges, including suspicion of driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter.

From Bill Lindelof:

A Folsom police officer has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and battery.

Folsom police said they were called early Sunday to a restaurant on the 25000 block of Blue Ravine Road by a patron reporting that an an off-duty officer was drunk and had been involved in a fight with the caller.

Officer Evan Fardanesh, a nine-year veteran of the Folsom Police Department, was arrested. His blood alcohol later was found to be .19 percent, more than twice the legal limit.

The case against Fardanesh, 34, was submitted to the Sacramento County District Attorney's office. He is on paid administrative leave.

Bee Staff

Mothers Against Drunk Driving recently honored three Placer County sheriff's deputies for making more than 70 DUI arrests in 2008.

MADD honored deputies Jason Doolittle, Lakshan DeSilva and Mike Beggs, according to a Sheriff's Department news release.

Last year, Doolittle netted 30 DUI arrests while DeSilva had 26 and Beggs 18, while working out of the North Lake Tahoe Sheriff's substation, the release states. (Doolittle is at left and DeSilva is at right in photo below.)

Overall, the Sheriff's Department's driving under the influence arrests totaled 314 last year, the release states.

""For every impaired driver these deputies took off the streets, lives may have been saved," Sheriff Ed Bonner said in the release. "Driving under the influence is a big problem in Placer County and we're doing our best to put an end to it."

According to a recent report, drinking and driving is an especially bad idea in Placer County.

The report by the California Department of Motor Vehicles released in March shows that Placer County had a conviction rate of 99.2 percent, the state's highest for those arrested on charges of driving under the influence.

The result, based on 2006 data for DUI arrests and their prosecution through the end of 2007, showed a statewide rate of 79.4 percent. Sacramento County, with a rate of 77 percent, was just slightly below the state number.

From Bill Lindelof:

Not only ants can put a damper on a picnic

While the mood at the 95th annual University of California, Davis' Picnic Day was said to be as sunny as the weather on Saturday, there were pockets of problems, according to the Davis Police. Picnic Day by the numbers:

-- 17 officers saturated City of Davis Saturday night targeting drunk drivers.

-- DUI saturation resulted in three drunken driving arrests.

-- 88 vehicles stopped.

-- 24 drivers put through the field sobriety test.

-- 5 citations for vehicle code violations.

-- 1 vehicle towed.

-- 31 alcohol-related calls for service for Friday and Saturday, resulting in 16 arrests for public intoxication.

-- 6 DUI arrests for the two days.

Bee Staff

UC Davis researchers are developing a program to make it easier to identify drug or alcohol impaired drivers who seek medical attention.

The UC Davis Trauma Prevention Program, when fully developed, will provide education on uniform and consistent reporting procedures at all 11 of the most sophisticated trauma centers in inland Northern California, according to a news release from the UC David Health System.

In addition, the UC Davis Medical Center will develop a standardized hospital procedure for obtaining a legal blood-alcohol level and teaching it to the same trauma centers, the release said.

"Our project aims to help increase the number of DUI convictions for drivers involved in alcohol-related collisions," said Christy Adams, program coordinator for the Trauma Prevention Program. "Increased convictions can ultimately lead to fewer alcohol-related crashes in the future."

The California Office of Traffic Safety is providing funding for the new program, the release said.

The new processes will show how to increase the number of legal blood-alcohol evidence samples obtained by health-care staff. In collaboration with California's Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, staff from the Trauma Prevention Program will instruct emergency and trauma physicians and nurses on how to report alcohol-impaired drivers to law enforcement agencies, the release said.

California had registered increasing numbers of alcohol-involved traffic deaths for several years prior to a 9.5 percent downturn in 2007, the release said. Even with that decline, 1,155 people died in California in 2007 as a result of a driver with a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit of .08, the release said.

"Currently, California's trauma system has no uniform and consistent system for informing law enforcement agencies of impaired drivers involved in motor-vehicle collisions," said Adams. "As it stands, law enforcement officers learn of collisions through 911 dispatches. After arriving on the scene of a collision, officers determine whether a driver is impaired and if a DUI citation is issued."

However, if the severity of a driver's injuries requires immediate transport to a trauma center, officers may not have time to check if the driver is impaired by drugs or alcohol, the release said.

And the delay caused by medical treatment or officers not being able to get away from the accident scene can make it hard to get a legally admissible blood-alcohol sample, the release said.

In minor collisions, impaired drivers may go to an emergency room without having called 911, the release said. In these cases, officers may not be notified of a collision involving an impaired driver.

One of the first steps that the Trauma Prevention Program will take under the new grant is to collect data on impaired drivers from UC Davis Medical Center, the release said. This data will include the blood-alcohol levels that are drawn automatically for all trauma patients.

The UC Davis researchers will work with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to determine what happened to patients who registered a blood-alcohol level greater than .04. The object of this analysis is to seek evidence of repeat instances of impaired driving, the release said.

From Niesha Lofing:

Citrus Heights police arrested five people for drunken driving during a DUI checkpoint this weekend, while a St. Patrick's Day patrol in Yolo County netted three DUI arrests, authorities report.

In Citrus Heights, officers reported that 1,473 vehicles drove through the checkpoint from 8 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday at Sunrise Boulevard and Oak Avenue, a police news release states.

Of those, five drivers were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, 43 were cited, two were arrested for outstanding warrants and 18 vehicles were towed, the release states.

All law enforcement agencies in Yolo County participated in the DUI saturation patrol from 6 p.m. to midnight Tuesday, a total of 14 officers, a Davis Police news release states.

The patrols resulted in 82 vehicle stops, three drunken driving arrests, 18 drivers being put through a field sobriety tests, 14 citations for various vehicle code violations, one vehicle being impounded for the driver having a suspended license and two drivers having suspended licenses, the release states.

The checkpoint and the patrols were funded through a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From Niesha Lofing:

A recent drunken driving patrol in Yolo County resulted in 14 citations and one DUI arrest.

The Yolo County "Avoid the Eight" team conducted a saturation patrol Sunday during the Almond Festival in Esparto, a Davis police news release states.

Eighteen officers participated in the patrol.

Of the 78 vehicles stopped, one person was arrested for drunken driving, three people were arrested for other criminal offenses, 14 drivers were put through the field sobriety test and 14 citations were issued for various vehicle code violations, the release states.

The team also conducted a saturation patrol throughout the county on St. Patrick's Day, but those results have not been released.

The enforcement program is funded through a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From Sandy Louey:

Redding police have arrested a 30-year-old woman in connection with a hit-and-run collision over the weekend.

At 5:42 p.m. Saturday, officers were called out to the area of Market and Tehama streets. The victim of the collision had called 911 while following the suspect's vehicle as it fled the accident scene, according to a news release from the Redding Police Department.

The suspect, Shelly Hall of Redding, was driving a Dodge Dakota pickup. She began speeding and driving erratically, driving northbound along the railroad tracks while evading the victim, police said.

Officers located her in the 3400 block of Terrill Street near her home. Her blood-alcohol level exceeded three times the legal limit. Hall was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence and hit and run, police said.

From Sandy Louey:

Redding police arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with a hit-and-run in which a pickup truck slammed into a garage Monday.

At 3:45 a.m., police were called out a home in the 2500 block of Castlewood Drive. Officers found major damage to the rollup door of a three-car garage that was apparently caused by a motor vehicle hitting it, according to a news release from the Redding Police Department.

A parked SUV inside the garage was severely damaged. It was forced against a gas water heater and wall separating the garage from the living space of the home, police said.

The gas and water lines of the water heater were ruptured, resulting in flooding inside the home. No one was injured and the Redding Fire Department secured the broken gas and water lines, authorities said.

A GMC pickup truck suspected of being involved was found a short distance away on Shasta View Drive. The truck was abandoned and disabled with major front end damage, police said.

About 23 minutes after the collision, the driver of the pickup arrived at a friend's home several blocks away on Freeman Way. The driver, Dustin Galen Benjamin Hemenway of Redding, asked his friend to call police to report the incident.

Hemenway, who had minor injuries from the collision, had symptoms of intoxication. He was eventually arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, police said.

He was booked at the Shasta County jail.

From Niesha Lofing:

Sacramento police will be on the lookout for drunken drivers Friday.

Officers plan to conduct a sobriety and drivers license checkpoint in the north area of the city, a police news release states.

Uniformed officers will check drivers for alcohol or drug impairment and also to ensure drivers have valid drivers licenses.

The checkpoint is funded through a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From Sandy Louey:

Redding police arrested a 23-year-old Anderson man Wednesday after a vehicle pursuit that lasted 25 minutes.

At 1:59 a.m. Wednesday, an officer tried to stop a Mercury sedan for an equipment violation in the area of Cypress Avenue and Interstate 5, according to a news release from the Redding Police Department.

The driver refused to yield, leading the officer on a pursuit that ended on southbound I-5 about a mile south of Hooker Creek Road in Tehama County. The pursuit reached a maximum speed of 80 mph, police said.

A spike strip forced the Mercury sedan to a safe stop. The Shasta County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol provided help, police said.

The driver of the sedan, Daniel Paul Morris, was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence, misdemeanor evading, driving under a suspended license and resisting arrest. He was booked at the Shasta County jail, police said.

From Sandy Louey:

The California Highway Patrol arrested the wife of the Marysville mayor for allegedly driving while under the influence of prescription medicine, the CHP reported.

At 2:05 p.m. Tuesday, Petra Sligman-Harris, 47, was driving east on 22nd Street near the intersection of Boulton Way in Marysville, the CHP said.

The CHP gave this account:

Sligman-Harris' 1999 Plymouth Voyager crossed the westbound side of the road and traveled off the road. She struck a chain link fence, entering the side yard of a home and struck a tree.

Marysville police responded, but requested the CHP take over the investigation after determining Sligman-Harris was the mayor's wife, the CHP said, to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Sligman-Harris was in respiratory distress and was taken to Rideout Hospital for treatment. She also had a bruised forehead and right knee and chest pains, the report said.

The CHP investigating officer believed she was under the influence of prescription medication at the time of the accident, the report said. She was placed under arrest for driving while under the influence and released at the hospital for treatment, the report said.

The arrest report will be turned over to the Yuba County District Attorney, the CHP said.

From Niesha Lofing

Law enforcement officers in Yolo County arrested three people during a drunken driving saturation patrol effort on Super Bowl Sunday.

Thirteen officers from several law enforcement agencies in the county conducted the DUI patrols, working for paid overtime funded through the state Office of Traffic Safety, a Davis police news release states.

Of the 79 vehicles stopped, 13 field sobriety tests were administered. Officers arrested three people on suspicion of drunken driving, suspended one license, issued 27 citations for various violations and impounded one vehicle for 30 days, the release states.

From Bee Staff:

An alert citizen and tiptoeing Roseville police officer led to an arrest for DUI and the recovery of a stolen vehicle early this morning.

The citizen reported a driver passed out behind the wheel of a green Honda Accord just after midnight. The car was parked on the sidewalk on westbound Cirby Way near Vernon Street, said Dee Dee Gunther, Roseville police spokeswoman.

Roseville officers responded and gently removed the driver from the Accord, which still had its engine running, Gunther said.

"The officers didn't want to disturb him while he was sleeping in the car that was still in drive," Gunther quoted a sergeant as saying.

The Honda Accord had been reported stolen from the 1400 block of Cushendall Drive in Roseville sometime Sunday night or early Monday morning, Gunther said.

The driver, Koby Roy King (photo left), 41, of Citrus Heights, was awakened and then arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft, driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, and parole violation, Gunther said.

He is being held without bail in the Placer County Jail.

From Sandy Louey:

California Highway Patrol officers arrested 32 people Friday in connection with alcohol and drug-related offenses in Sacramento and El Dorado counties.

The arrests are a result of the CHP's Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers, or RAID, program in Rancho Cordova and El Dorado Hills.

In addition to the 32 arrested for alcohol and drugs, there were 82 traffic citations, according to a news release.

The RAID program uses grant-funded overtime from the state Office of Traffic Safety to help increase the number of officers on patrol.

The officers are deployed at times and locations where there has been a high number of DUI-related traffic accidents, the CHP said.

From Sandy Louey:

A driver who ran a red light early Thursday led to a four-car accident in Citrus Heights, police officials said.

The accident occurred at 5:30 a.m. at Greenback Lane and Auburn Boulevard. Salvador Ayala, 23, was driving recklessly east on Greenback when he ran the light and collided with three other vehicles, said Lt. Jeff Mackanin of the Citrus Heights Police Department.

Ayala was arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence. Ayala, who had a broken arm, and two other drivers were taken to local hospitals for minor injuries from the accident, Mackanin said.

Mackanin said before the accident, the California Highway Patrol had issued a bulletin about a reckless driver on Highway 80. Ayala had exited Highway 80 onto Greenback.

From Bee Staff:

For the second time in eight days, a drunken driving suspect has struck a Rocklin Police Department car, a police spokesman said.

The latest incident occurred at 10:20 p.m. Wednesday, when a police car was struck by another vehicle at a slow speed in the drive-through lane of a local McDonald's, said Rocklin Police Lt. Lon Milka in a news release.

Officers noticed symptoms of intoxication from the driver, Rosemary Newell (left photo), 67, who arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. There was little damage to the either vehicle. The officer and Newell suffered no injuries, Milka said. She was booked into Placer County Jail and subsequently released with a promise to appear in court.

"Rear ending a police car while intoxicated is a sure fire way to be arrested for DUI," Milka said.

As reported in Sacto 9-1-1, on Jan. 7, A Rocklin police officer was injured after his patrol car collided with a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver at Pacific Street and Midas Avenue. The officer was taken by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where he was treated for minor injuries and was released. The officer is still off work because of his injuries, Milka said Thursday.

In the Jan. 7 incident, Michael Lansom, 25, of Fair Oaks displayed symptoms of intoxication and was arrested on suspicion of felony driving while intoxicated, Milka said.

From Niesha Lofing:

A Rocklin police officer was injured late Tuesday night after his patrol car collided with a vehicle driven by a suspected drunk driver.

The officer was taken by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center where he was treated for minor injuries and was released, officials say. The officer was driving north near the intersection of Pacific Street and Midas Avenue in Rocklin at 11:30 p.m. when a vehicle turned in front of the patrol car, Rocklin police Lt. Lon Milka stated in a news release.

The officer's vehicle hit the other vehicle, causing air bags in the patrol car to deploy. The driver of the vehicle, Michael Lansom, 25, of Fair Oaks displayed symptoms of intoxication and was arrested on suspicion of felony driving while intoxicated, Milka said. He is being held on $30,000 bail in Placer County Jail in Auburn, online jail information states.

A passenger in Lansom's vehicle also was taken to the medical center and released. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the collision.

From Niesha Lofing:

Law enforcement and state officials are planning to showcase legislation to enhance penalties for drunken driving offenders this morning in West Sacramento.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, will meet with California Highway Patrol and other officials at 10 a.m. at the CHP Academy to introduce a bill requiring ignition lock devices on vehicles owned or operated by DUI offenders, a CHP news release states.

The meeting is meant to emphasize the seriousness of drunken driving in the state and bring attention to the proposed legislation.

Feuer introduced the bill, AB 2784, last year. The bill, which would mandate interlocks for all offenders, passed out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee and was amended to be an optional, discretionary bill after reaching the Assembly Appropriations Committee, information on Feuer's Web site states.

The bill is being endorsed by the CHP and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Two new laws related to ignition interlocks for drunken driving offenders also go into effect this year.

One of the laws reduces the blood alcohol content to .15 percent, down from .20 percent, or more at the time of arrest, which then triggers a requirement allowing judges to give heightened consideration to having an interlock device installed in the car of a first-time drunken driving offender, the CHP states. That law took effect last week.

In July, a law will go into effect that transfers authority of mandatory interlock device programs from the state courts to the Department of Motor Vehicles and authorizes the DMV to require any driver convicted of driving on a suspended license due to a prior DUI conviction to install an interlock device in any vehicle the offender owns or operates.

Drunken driving arrests over holiday enforcement periods decreased this past year compared to the same periods the previous year, but drunken driving remains problematic in California, the CHP officials state.

CHP officers arrested 1,456 people statewide for driving while intoxicated during the New Year's Eve maximum enforcement period and another 1,395 drivers during the Christmas maximum enforcement period.

From Niesha Lofing:

Rocklin police are racking up drunken driving arrests as they head into the new year.

Drunken driving arrests this year are up 14 percent over last year, and officers added another arrest to their tally Monday.

Officers responded to a traffic collision call at 3:38 p.m. on Pacific Street near Sunset Boulevard, Lt. Lon Milka said in a news release.

One vehicle had rear-ended another, and the driver who appeared to have caused the crash allegedly displayed symptoms of alcohol intoxication, Milka said.

Renee Francis Schultz, 56, of Rocklin was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving. She was booked into Placer County Mail Jail in Auburn and posted bail.

The driver of the second car was taken to Sutter Roseville Medical Center for treatment of a possible broken arm and complained of pain, Milka said.

Sacramento area police are urging the sober to help them catch the smashed.

Local and state officials are promoting increased use of cell phones to report suspicious drivers by calling 911.

Here are tips to spotting a possible drunken driver:

-Swerving in and out of the lane.

- Weaving noticeably within a lane.

- Traveling at speeds much slower than the flow of traffic.

- Braking erratically or stopping in the lane.

- Sudden stops for signal lights and slow start once they change.

- Remaining at the signal lights once they turn green asleep at the wheel.

- Making wide turns and/or cutting the corner, striking the curb.

- Headlights off at night or on high beams.

- Driving with the turn signals on.

- Straddling the center line of the road or lane lines.

- The driver stares straight ahead, face close to the windshield and appears sleepy.

-Aggressive driving - speeding, tailgating, multiple lane changes, unsafe passing.

Officials are riding a wave of good news - alcohol related crash fatalities dropped by 8.3 percent in 2007 - the first such decline since 1998.

"Through an aggressive combination of various anti-DUI operations, including sobriety checkpoints, together with the public calling 911 when they see a drunk driver, we're getting these dangerous drivers off the road," said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the state Office of Traffic Safety.

His agency distributes federal grant money for increased DUI enforcement such as the saturation patrols planned for New Year's Eve by the Roseville Police Department and many other police agencies throughout the region.

Drivers using their cell phones to report other drivers is now a viable DUI enforcement weapon because most local police department dispatch centers now receive those cell phone 911 calls. Not too long ago any person calling 911 from a cell phone would automatically get the often beleaguered California Highway Patrol switchboard.

Rocklin police give some of the credit for a 14 percent increase in DUI arrests to alert local residents. By the third week in December, Rocklin police had scored 264 arrests of drivers who were suspected of being under the influence of alcohol or some other drug. They also noted a 23 percent increase in cell phone calls to their dispatch center from drivers reported other drivers.

"I don't believe that there are 14 percent more DUI drivers in the area as compared to last year," said Lt. Lon Milka, Rocklin police spokesman. "I believe that more of the DUI drivers out there are being arrested. If you are going to drink and drive, chances are good that either a police officer will spot you or a citizen will."

From Niesha Lofing:

The California Highway Patrol's efforts to nab drunken drivers in Sacramento last weekend yielded 116 arrests.

The CHP conducted two Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers operations Friday and Saturday in south and North Sacramento, a CHP news release states.

Friday's efforts in south Sacramento resulted in 61 arrests for drunken or drug-impaired driving, while Saturday's operation in North Sacramento yielded 55 drunken or drug-related arrests, the CHP reports.

The RAID program uses grant-funded overtime from the state Office of Traffic Safety to allow the CHP to increase the number of officers on patrol and deploy them at times and locations where high incidents of DUI-related crashes have occurred, the release states.

From Niesha Lofing:

Six people were arrested for drunken driving and one person died in a DUI-related fatal crash in Placer County this weekend.

Several law enforcement agencies in the county conducted a sobriety checkpoint Saturday and arrested six people for drunken driving, Auburn police Officer Scott Alford stated in a news release.

There was one drunken driving related fatality in Roseville.

Brandon Mitchell Keith, 20, died early Saturday at Sutter Roseville Medical Center after the car he was riding in crashed into a tree. The 19-year-old driver, Brandon M. Moreno, of Roseville, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter.

Another passenger suffered minor injuries in the crash and a third passenger was not injured.

The checkpoint Saturday was part of the statewide Winter Mobilization maximum DUI enforcement effort.

The "AVOID the 7" taskforce is part of a team of 50 law enforcement agencies participating in the campaign. From Dec. 12 through Sunday, officers have arrested 524 people for DUI-related violations in the Sacramento valley region, an AVOID news release states.

More sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols are scheduled throughout the holiday season.

From Andy Furillo:

A 17-year-old boy has admitted to gross vehicular manslaughter charges in Sacramento Juvenile Court in the hit-and-run death of a 58-year-old man, prosecutors said today.

The Oct. 10 collision killed Aman Khanna, who was on his way to work in one of two jobs he held.

The youth, whose name is being withheld because of his age, was under the influence of alcohol and was driving 80 miles per hour when he ran and red light and struck Khanna at the intersection of Cottage and Fulton, according to the Sacramento district attorney's office.

Khanna supported his mother, wife and three daughters.

Deputy District Attorney Joy Smiley said in a press release that his death left his family in "severe emotional and financial distress." Smiley said the family's "finances have been depleted" and that his passing left them "with no way to support themselves."

The teenaged defendant will be committed to the Sacramento County Boys Ranch for one year and then will be deported to Mexico upon his release, prosecutors said.

From Sandy Louey:

The California Highway Patrol made 116 alcohol- and drug-related arrests as part of operations conducted in the Sacramento region over the weekend.

Two Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers strike force operations were conducted in the city's south and north areas. Friday's operation in south Sacramento produced 61 arrests; Saturday's deployment in North Sacramento yielded 55 arrests, a CHP news release states.

The RAID program uses grant-funded overtime from the Office of Traffic Safety to help boost the number of officers on patrol and to deploy them at times and locations where there have been extensive DUI-related traffic accidents.

From Niesha Lofing:

Drunken driving arrests are increasing in Rocklin.

Rocklin police have arrested 264 people for drunken driving since the start of the year, a 14 percent increase over the same period of time in 2007, police Lt. Lon Milka said in a news release.

The increase in arrests is due to officers being diligent about spotting drunken drivers, officers having a heightened skill at recognizing symptoms of a driver's alcohol or drug intoxication and other drivers calling 911 to report possible violators.

Rocklin police's communications center has enhanced 911 capabilities and receives cell phone calls made within the city limits, making for rapid dispatching and officer response, Milka said.

Reports from cell phones of suspected drunken drivers has risen 23 percent so far this year, as compared to the same period last year, he said.

In other areas of the region, 911 calls are handled by the CHP and then forwarded to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

Milka said he doesn't think there are more drunken drivers in the city this year than last year, just a better system for catching them.

"We're catching more of them," Milka said.

He said officers are devoting a lot of in-house training time to learning signs of drunken drivers.

"We're pretty ecstatic about it because a lot of our officers are concentrating more on DUIs, in addition to their other patrol duties," he said.

By Niesha Lofing:

A sobriety checkpoint late last week in West Sacramento resulted in four people arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The checkpoint was from 9 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday.

Sixteen officers form the "Avoid the 8" team stopped and screened 374 drivers, conducted five sobriety tests and arrested four people for drunken driving at the checkpoint, a Davis police news release states.

Officers also made one drug arrest at the checkpoint, suspended licenses of four drives and issued nine citations.

The "Avoid the 8" team also will be conducting saturation patrols on New Year's Eve.

Elsewhere in Yolo County, one person was arrested during a drunken driving warrant sweep early Saturday morning.

Yolo County Probation Officers conducted the sweep and probation searches throughout the county, evaluating people for indications they were in violation of the terms and conditions of their probation, a news release states.

Officers attempted to serve 12 warrants and of those, two warrants were successfully served. Officers also attempted to conduct five probation searches. Of those, two probation searches were completed.

Two probationers were contacted and one was found to be in violation of probation and arrested for alcohol-related violations.

From David Richie:

A 21-year-old man remains in jail today after his arrest Monday night by Folsom police on suspicion of felony drunken driving and hit-and-run with injuries - the man's third traffic arrest by Folsom police since Oct. 24.

Maximillian Sullivan lists home addresses in Sacramento and Carmichael. Officer Michelle Beattie, police spokeswoman, did not have information about how Sullivan keeps getting out of jail, but she said his last two arrests have occurred while he was driving with a suspended license.

Folsom police were called about 7:36 p.m. Monday about a hit-and-run traffic collision in a residential area near Perraud and Alezane drives. Witnesses told officers that the suspect's vehicle, a GMC truck, had rear-ended another vehicle. The driver of that vehicle complained of pain in her neck and head and she was transported to Kaiser Medical Center in Roseville.

Officers located the GMC truck in the 100 block of Price Way and spotted Sullivan walking away from the vehicle.

Sullivan also has been identified as the driver in a hit-and-run Oct. 24 when another driver was transported to a local hospital. He was booked on reckless driving charges after another incident Nov. 3.

Sacramento County court records indicate that Sullivan has been jailed at least three times since 2005 for various incidents involving weapons charges, fighting or reckless driving. Punishment has never been more severe than a few weeks in jail or service on the sheriff's work project.

From Kim Minugh:

Yolo County authorities will be patrolling the streets this holiday season for people who have avoided punishment for their driving under the influence offenses.

"Avoid the 8" law enforcement agencies will be conducting sweeps targeting what authorities consider the "worst of the worst" DUI offenders - those who have failed to show up for a court date or violated the terms of their probation in a DUI case, according to an "Avoid the 8" news release.

Authorities are promising a trip to jail - and additional time there for their crimes - for offenders they catch in their net.

The "Avoid" program is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For more information, visit www.californiaavoid.org.

From David Richie:

A resident is being credited with helping a Placer County sheriff's deputy capture a drunken driving suspect who investigators said ran amok in Penryn.

Leon Eugene Wood (left photo), 43, of Iowa Hill, got the deputy's attention about 7:25 p.m. Friday when he said Wood blew by on Interstate 80 going an estimated 100 mph. Wood pulled over when the deputy pulled up from behind but then he evidently decided to flee.

With the deputy behind him, Wood drove erratically, exited the freeway at Penryn Road and rear-ended another vehicle, investigators said.

He continued in his Hyundai sport utility vehicle for a short distance before hitting another vehicle and attempting to flee on foot, investigators said.

A resident joined the pursuing deputy and they caught up with Wood about 150 yards from the second accident scene.

Wood remains in Placer County Jail on charges of suspicion of drunken driving with injuries, reckless evasion of a police officer, resisting arrest and driving with a suspended license. Wood's bail has been set at $30,000, investigators said.

From Sandy Louey:

Thirty-three people were killed on California roads during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend this year, down from the 41 who died during the same time last year, according to the California Highway Patrol.

There were also 1,530 DUI arrests during the four-day holiday weekend, compared to 1,628 last year, according to a CHP press release.

During the four-day maximum enforcement period, all available CHP officers are on the road.

Similar enforcement periods will be in effect during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

The CHP reminded drivers to don't drink and drive, obey the speed limit and always wear seat belts.

From Niesha Lofing:

A North Highlands man is facing felony drunken driving and other charges after crashing his sport utility vehicle Saturday on a levee road, a collision that killed his girlfriend.

Charles Garcia, 29, was driving his gray 2004 Dodge Durango at 11:25 p.m. Saturday when the crash occurred on Elkhorn Boulevard, west of East Levee Road, California Highway Patrol Officer Lizz Dutton stated in a news release.

Garcia was westbound on Elkhorn, going about 45 mph, when the vehicle crossed over the eastbound lane and went over an embankment, she said.

The left rear of the SUV spun around and collided with the embankment.

Garcia's girlfriend was sitting in the front passenger seat and was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, Dutton said.

The woman was taken to UC Davis Medical Center, where she died from injuries sustained in the crash. The woman's identity is not yet being released, pending notification of her family.

Garcia was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving, gross vehicular manslaughter and driving on a suspended license. Garcia's drivers license has a restriction on it that requires him to have an ignition interlock device on his vehicle, but the vehicle he was driving was not registered to him, Dutton said.

The CHP is investigating the crash.

By Andy Furillo:

DUI fixer Hector Whitley was sentenced to six years in state prison today for his role in a courthouse scam to dismiss cases on drunken drivers.

Whitley "admitted to having a part in the crime," but claimed that he "did not know all that was going on," according to his probation report.

Superior Court Judge Gregory F. Haas imposed the sentence on the 27-year-old Whitley, who was convicted by a jury on Oct. 10.

Prosecutors portrayed Whitley as the idea man in the scam and presented evidence that he worked with a court clerk to get the cases dismissed. Whitley testified in court that he collected $11,300 from a half dozen or so people arrested for drunken driving.

The clerk who pleaded no contest in the case, Fernando A. Catlin, was sentenced in August to five years in prison.

From David Richie:

A 31-year-old man remains in jail on an immigration hold after allegedly crashing into several cars and fighting with police officers early Sunday night during a drunken driving spree that started in unincorporated Sacramento County and ended on Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights, police said.

Police officials said the arrest of Nolberto Pacheco Ortez was not related to the Proposition 8 demonstrations occurring at the same time near the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane.

Police dispatchers began relaying information about Ortez as his Ford 150 truck headed east on Greenback Lane. Officers said they spotted him turning south from Greenback Lane on to Sunrise Boulevard but Ortez initially did not yield when they attempted to pull him over.

The truck stopped just north of Madison Avenue and Ortez fought with officers before he was taken into custody, police said.

He was booked on felony charges of suspicion of evading police officers in a reckless manner and resisting arrest as well as misdemeanor suspicion of drunken driving, police said.

He has been deemed ineligible for bail because of the Immigration and Naturalization Service hold, police said.

From Andy Furillo:

Sacramento County prosecutors said today they plan to file five criminal counts against the 16-year-old youth suspected in the drunken driving death of a 58-year-old Natomas area man Friday night.

The suspect, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, will be arraigned Thursday in juvenile court.

Deputy District Attorney Rick Lewkowitz said the teenager will face one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily or death, two counts of driving while under the influence of alcohol, one count of felony hit and run and one misdemeanor count of driving without a valid license.

Aman Khanna, driving to his job as a hospital security officer, was killed in the collision Friday night around 10 p.m. at the intersection of Cottage Way and Fulton Avenue.

In an earlier Bee report, police said a drunken, unlicensed 16-year-old driver ran a red light at the intersection at 80 mph -- double the speed limit - crashed into Khanna's vehicle and then ran away from his victim's smoldering car.

From Andy Furillo:

A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted the alleged leader of a scheme to get drunken driving cases dismissed from the courthouse docket.

Hector A. Whitley, 27, faces six to eight years in prison as a result of the verdict that was returned by the jury after about two hours of deliberations.

Whitley's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6 in front of Superior Court Judge Gregory F. Haas. He was remanded into custody after the verdict and held in lieu of $500,000 bail.

According to prosecutors, Whitley promoted the DUI fixes in contacts he had at bars in the Sacramento area, using bartenders and others to pass his name to people who were facing drunken driving cases that they wanted to go away.

At least six people had their cases fixed by Whitley, according to court records.

An accomplice in the case, former Sacramento Superior Court clerk Fernando Catlin, 25, pleaded no contest in the case earlier this year and was sentenced to five years in state prison.

From Andy Furillo:

The chief spokesman for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association has been arrested in San Joaquin County on suspicion of drunken driving.

Lance Corcoran was taken into custody Monday at 7:20 p.m. after a California Highway Patrol officer found him in his car that was pulled over on Eight Mile Road near Interstate 5 with the motor running, according to CHP Assistant Chief Mike Champion.

Corcoran, 44, was booked into the county jail and released the next day. The CHP, as a matter of policy, did not release his blood-alcohol level. The case was submitted Wednesday to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office, which by late afternoon had not made a filing decision.

His attorney, William Portanova, declined comment Wednesday.

From Niesha Lofing:

A sobriety checkpoint in Davis last Friday night netted four drunken driving arrests, raising the number of DUI arrests in Yolo County to 13 for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Yolo County's "Avoid the Eight" DUI Task Force held the sobriety and driver's license checkpoint from 9 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday near Richards Boulevard and Olive Drive.

More than 940 vehicles passed through the checkpoint, of which 739 were stopped, states a Davis police news release.

Of the 19 drivers given sobriety tests, four were arrested for drunken driving.

Officers also were checking motorists for valid driver's licenses. Four people were cited for driver's license violations and two vehicles were impounded for driver's license violations, the release states.

There were no reported DUI-related fatalities during the Labor Day weekend, the release states.

The checkpoint was funded through a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From David Richie:

El Dorado County Supervisor Helen Baumann is scheduled for a court hearing 10 a.m. Oct. 24 to fight a drunken driving charge filed against her by the El Dorado County District Attorney's office.

Baumann, left, did not attend her arraignment Tuesday in El Dorado County Superior Court but her attorney, Donald Simonds, appeared on Baumann's behalf and entered a not guilty plea.

Reached by telephone Wednesday at his El Dorado Hills office, Simonds said the Oct. 24 date will be a pretrial conference. He declined to make any further comment, indicating that his is still in the "discovery" phase of the case and it is much too early to talk about it.

The charges against Baumann, 56, stem from an incident on the night of June 6 when she allegedly lost control of her car on Latrobe Road, crashed through a barbed wire fence and rolled down an embankment. California Highway Patrol officers stated that she then apparently drove back up the embankment, crossed the road and hit another embankment.

Because of medical concerns, Baumann was transported to Mercy Hospital, Folsom, where she was treated and released without being booked into El Dorado County Jail.

Earlier The Bee reported that her blood-alcohol level registered over the legal limit of 0.08, but the California Highway Patrol, which investigated the accident, did not release Baumann's exact blood-alcohol level.

She issued this statement about a week after the accident that said: "While there remain many unanswered questions, and my attorney has advised me not to comment, I am extremely concerned and want to apologize for the strain and disruption the situation has caused our law enforcement and emergency services."

Baumann has reached her term limit after serving eight years on the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors and she will leave office in January.

From Art Campos:

The California Highway Patrol and other law enforcement agencies in Auburn arrested 27 motorists on suspicion of drunken driving during a traffic enforcement operation at the city's recent Black & White Ball.

In addition to the arrests, the CHP, the Auburn Police Department and the Placer County Sheriff's Department handed out 20 citations and detained at least four people for drug-related evaluations Saturday, CHP Officer Steve Merchant said in a news release.

Capt. Rick Ward, commander of the CHP's Auburn-area office in Newcastle, said extra units patrolled Interstate 80, Highway 49, Bell Avenue and other major roadways in and around the city.

Last year, the agencies combined to arrest 30 suspected drunken drivers during the Black & White Ball, he said.

The law enforcement agencies began teaming up in recent years to provide extra patrols at the annual ball after citizens and businesses complained about an increase in drunken drivers and alcohol-related rowdiness.

From Sandy Louey:

Elk Grove police arrested six people and issued 67 citations during a sobriety checkpoint Saturday night.

The checkpoint was targeted at removing impaired and unlicensed drivers from the road. Five arrests were for driving while under the influence, while one was for a warrant for driving under the influence, said Officer Christopher Trim, spokesman for the police department.

The 67 citations were for miscellaneous vehicle code violations, he said

From Blair Anthony Robertson:

Many folks who get caught drinking and driving are under the impression that if they simply avoid the court system, the whole thing might fade away.

Little by little and month by month, the Sacramento Police Department is disabusing them of that notion with sweeps targeting motorists who either failed to show up for a court date or violated terms of their probation in a DUI case.

Friday night, officers arrested two such suspects - one as he was arriving home in a car he was not licensed to drive.

"There are literally thousands of DUI warrants in the system. Some of the people are hoping they can put it off for a long time and not have to deal with it," said Officer Timothy Davis, who is overseeing a DUI program funded by the state's Office of Traffic Safety. "We're letting the public know that if they don't take care of it by going to court, we're going to come find them and take then to jail."

Many suspects involved are transients, meaning addresses on warrants were out of date when officers showed up Friday to make an arrest, Davis said.

Not so for Timothy Furey. He rolled up at his residence in the Valley Hi section of Sacramento, just as officers were leaving, police said.

He was arrested Friday around 6 p.m. for two outstanding DUI warrants, cited for driving without a license and had his car towed away, according to Davis.

Sacramento police have conducted similar sweeps since April, yielding 11 arrests, Davis said.

From Wesley DeBerry:

A Stockton man had a good news-bad news day.

The bad news - he was in a minor traffic accident that left his car on the railroad tracks as a train approached.

The good news - he and his two passengers got out of the car before the train hit it.

The bad news - his car was thrown from the tracks and hit him.

The good news - he only suffered minor injuries.

The bad news - he was arrested for driving under the influence.

Here are the details:

According to California Highway patrol, Andre Becerra Jr., 18, was traveling north on Lower Sacramento Road on Monday when he looked down momentarily just as traffic stopped ahead of him because of an oncoming train approached.

Becerra, veered to the left to avoid the vehicles but hit the concrete base of the railroad-crossing arm. The car came to rest on the tracks, Becerra and the two female passengers were able to exit the vehicle before the train hit. However, the momentum of the collision propelled Becerra's vehicle into him.

Becerra was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. He also was arrested for DUI.

Becerra was cited and released on a DUI charge. No other injuries were reported in the accident.

From Art Campos:

Roseville police arrested five people on suspicion of drunken driving and issued 40 other citations to motorists Friday and early Saturday during a zero tolerance traffic operation.

The effort ran from 4:30 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday on city streets, said Dee Dee Gunther, department spokeswoman.

In addition to the DUI arrests, one person was arrested and another was cited for driving with suspended licenses, she said. The vehicles of those two people were towed away, she said.

Officers issued the approximately 40 citations for such offenses as speeding, not wearting seat belts and illegal use of cell phones while driving, Gunther said.

Funding for the operation came from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, she said.

From Bill Lindelof:

Yuba County got a taste of saturation coverage Saturday by the California Highway Patrol that other areas have also recently experienced.

The result: 40 arrested for suspicion of drunken driving, driving while under the influence of drugs -- and riding a bicycle while impaired.

Over the past few months, the CHP has pulled officers from several areas into designated communities to cut down on drunken driving. The CHP calls the strike force operation "Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers" -- RAID.

The department pays for the extra effort with grant money to fund officer overtime. RAID is conducted in communities the department knows have high numbers of DUI-related traffic accidents.

At a minimum, 10 units with two officers in each squad car rove around, backed by a fully-staffed command post.

Statistics from past RAID deployments include:

• • North Sacramento, 50 arrests, September 2007
• • Auburn , 30 arrests, September 2007
• • Stockton, 52 arrests, November 2007
• • North Sacramento, 46 arrests, Dec. 2007
• • South Sacramento, 87 arrests, March 2008
• • North Sacramento, 50 arrests, April 2008
• • Stockton, 64 arrests, May 2008
• • South Sacramento, 50 arrests, May 2008
• • Placerville, 25 arrests, June 2008

The majority of the arrests Saturday and early Sunday morning were in unincoporated Yuba County, said CHP officer Carlos Lejarza.

"I wish we could do this more often," Lejarza said. "It sends out a message that we are serious."

From Art Campos:

A 50-year-old motorist was arrested Wednesday night in Rocklin after allegedly striking another vehicle, fleeing and then running her minivan into gasoline pumps at a 7-Eleven Food Mart at Sierra College Boulevard and Granite Drive, police reported.

The gas pumps did not catch fire, police said.

Cynthia F. Donaldson of Fair Oaks was taken into custody shortly after 8 p.m. and booked into the Placer County jail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run driving causing injury and of felony driving under the influence of alcohol, said Rocklin Police Lt. Lon Milka.

Police said the woman hit another vehicle in the area of Sierra College Boulevard and the new Interstate 80 overpass, causing minor injuries to the driver of the other vehicle.
The suspect then continued a short distance before hitting the gas pumps at the convenience store, Milka said.

When officers arrived, the woman was still sitting in the driver's seat of her GMC minivan and displayed signs of intoxication, the lieutenant said.

The driver who was injured in the earlier incident was taken by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and was treated for cuts and bruises, Milka said.

El Dorado County Supervisor Helen Baumann on Thursday issued a brief, unsigned statement about her arrest last week on suspicion of drunken driving.

The statement said her attorney has advised her not to comment about the incident on Latrobe Road the night of June 6, when she reportedly crashed through a barbed-wire fence and down an embankment.

California Highway Patrol investigators place the time of her solo crash at about 11:30 p.m. A 911 call was received by the CHP switchboard about 11:40 p.m., said Officer Mike Schultz, CHP spokesman.

Click here for David Richie's full story.

From Jennifer K. Morita:

A man arrested for allegedly driving under the influence Saturday night appears to have taken out his anger on a patrol car during his ride to jail.

The handcuffed suspect managed to kick out a back window and did other damage to a California Highway Patrol vehicle while he was being driven to Placer County jail on Saturday night.

Officers had stopped the driver on Interstate 80 at Eureka Road about 11:55 p.m. and placed him under arrest, CHP Officer Kelly Baraga said.

The man was placed in the backseat with a seatbelt. The officers were near Penryn en route to the the jail when the suspect started to kick the patrol car's back window, breaking the weather stripping and shattering the right rear window, Baraga said.

The officers had to pull over and restrain the suspect again before continuing to the jail.

From Niesha Lofing:

Drunken driving arrests over the Memorial Day weekend rose 8.3 percent from last year, according to preliminary information gathered by the California Highway Patrol.

The DUI crackdown across 10 counties in the Sacramento region netted 274 arrests. In 2007, there were 253 DUI arrests during the same three-day period, according to a CHP news release.

Officers from 50 area law enforcement agencies conducted sobriety checkpoints, special saturation patrols and routine patrols in the region from midnight Friday until midnight Sunday.

There were no DUI deaths reported during the holiday weekend, the release states.

For the second time in five months, a 23-year-old Truckee woman has been arrested after she allegedly crashed her car while driving under the influence at the exact same spot north of Lake Tahoe, the Associated Press reports.

Truckee Police say that in both cases, her blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit.

Here's the AP story.

Four drivers were arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of alochol or drugs during a traffic checkpoint Saturday night in Citrus Heights, authorities report.

The checkpoint took place from 8 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday on Madison and San Juan avenues, according to a Citrus Heights Police Department news release.

Other checkpoint totals: Twenty vehicles were towed, 41 citations were written and, a total of 1,502 cars drove through the checkpoint and officers contacted 685 drivers.

Citrus Heights Police have several more checkpoints scheduled in the upcoming months.

Former NFL running back and Grant High School legend Onterrio Smith was arrested early Friday in Sacramento on suspicion of driving under the influence, authorities said.

The 27-year-old Smith was booked into Sacramento County Jail just after 4 a.m., jail records show.

Here's Ryan Lillis' story.

Joe Davidson's Feb. 4, 2007 story in The Bee detailed Smith's journey from Grant High star to NFL outcast:

Citrus Heights police officer Jennifer Kell examines a driver's license during a DUI checkpoint Friday on eastbound Greenback Lane. Photo by Anne Chadwick Williams/awilliams@sacbee.com

Greenback Lane glowed with flashing lights Friday night.

Citrus Heights police set up a drunken driving checkpoint for eastbound drivers while radar-equipped motorcycle teams monitored traffic in the westbound lanes. About a dozen tow truck drivers waited in the Lowe's parking lot.

The scene on Greenback Lane, just west of Sunrise Boulevard, was the focus of a stepped-up drunken driving enforcement program that ran from 8 p.m. Friday to about 3 a.m. Saturday. Extra patrols also targeted other areas of the city.

The effort paid off with police arresting seven people for driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. They towed 19 vehicles and issued 52 tickets for other violations.

David Richie provides more details:

The Citrus Heights Police Department plans to conduct a DUI checkpoint Friday night through early Saturday morning.

Officers will be posted from 7:30 p.m. Friday through 3:30 a.m. Saturday on Greenback Lane, west of Sunrise Boulevard.

Officers will be checking drivers for signs of impairment and for possessing a valid driver’s license, according to a department news release. The vehicles of drivers without a valid driver’s license are subject to tow.

The Davis Police Department has released the results of Yolo County’s "Avoid the Eight" team's saturation patrol of the city during Picnic Day weekend.

According to a department news release, the DUI patrol saturated Davis on Saturday night and stopped 70 vehicles, put 14 drivers through a field sobriety test, issued nine citations for various vehicle code violations and arrested three people for suspected drunken driving. Four additional drivers were arrested on DUI charges by patrol officers Friday and Saturday nights.

Authorities report the "Avoid the Eight" team is planning a DUI checkpoint during the Memorial Day weekend.

From Art Campos:

Roseville police arrested six motorists during a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint operation over the weekend.

Officers stopped 839 vehicles during the five-hour effort that began at 9 p.m. Friday on Sunrise Avenue at Sun Tree Drive, said police spokeswoman Dee Dee Gunther.

Five were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and the sixth for a felony drug warrant, she said.

The officers also issued five citations to motorists for driving without a valid license and had six vehicles towed away, she said.

Citrus Heights police are continuing their high-profile drunken driving enforcement and preparing to install cameras at key intersections to help them ticket drivers running red lights.

Police arrested three suspected drunken drivers Friday night at a DUI checkpoint on Sunrise Boulevard near Sunrise Mall. A fourth suspected DUI driver was taken into custody by officers participating in stepped up drunken driving enforcement over the weekend.

More from David Richie:

A Sacramento woman involved in a car crash a week before Christmas that killed 18-year-old Scott Crouch, left, and injured eight other young people has been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence with injury, Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully announced today.

Beth Ann Colyer, 35, had a blood-alcohol level of .15 more than 90 minutes after the Dec. 19 crash, nearly twice the legal limit of .08, Scully's office said.

Tests also detected the presence of hydrocodone, which the District Attorney's office described as a "common and powerful prescription pain reliever."

For the rest of today's story, click here; Click on link below to read Tony Bizjak's Dec. 21, 2007, story about the accident:

From Melissa Nix:

Jagjeet Dhillon, 35, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol after crashing a gold Chevy Tahoe into an Elk Grove home at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

No one in the house, on the 9300 block of Miko Circle, near Calvine Road, was injured.

Dhillon sustained minor injuries, according to the police.