Police department gets traffic-safety grant

The Petaluma Police Department received a $200,000 grant this month from the California Office of Traffic Safety that will enable it to purchase new equipment and fund overtime for special traffic-enforcement efforts.

Petaluma police will utilize the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program grant in its efforts to deal with increasing traffic-safety problems and reduce the number of people killed and injured in traffic collisions, said Sgt. Ken Savano.

“The California Office of Traffic Safety continues to support our mission of protecting life and property with continued grant funding, helping our department continue to reduce traffic collisions and preventing deaths and injuries on our streets,” said Chief Dan Fish. “Working together with OTS has allowed our department to provide an effective Traffic Safety Program that has received statewide recognition for the last two years.”

This grant project will target DUI offenders, specifically habitual DUI offenders, and speeding violations, with and emphasis on motorcycle speeding violations, by using laser radar units.

“This will be done through the sobriety checkpoints, warrant service operations, DUI probation and parole checks, stakeouts of habitual DUI offenders and court stings targeting DUI offenders with suspended or revoked licenses who get behind the wheel after leaving court,” Savano said.

“This grant funding comes at a time when speed and DUI violations remain a serious problem in Petaluma,” added Lt. Mike Cook, who oversees the Traffic Safety Program. “Our officers are on pace to break the previous record of 607 DUI arrests made in calendar year 2007 by more than 100 arrests.

“Current estimates are that DUI arrests in the city of Petaluma will peak at almost 700 in calendar year 2009.”

Petaluma police will work with allied agencies to conduct special speed-enforcement operations in and around Petaluma, he added.

The grant also will provide funding for surveillance equipment, laser radar units, checkpoint supplies and overtime to conduct special enforcement activities.

The flurry of recent DUI arrests reflects the need for the funding, Savano said.

Margaret Moudenhauer, 41, of Petaluma was arrested for DUI on Petaluma Boulevard South, near McNear Avenue, at 7:44 p.m. on Saturday after motorists called 911 to report that she was driving under the influence of alcohol. It was her third arrest for the offense, and her blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

On Oct. 18, a Petaluma police officer who was returning to the city after booking another DUI driver noticed that Tiffany Parker, 29, of Petaluma was driving a vehicle on southbound Highway 101 that had been recently damaged and had a blown-out tire. The officer stopped Parker at the Pepper Road on-ramp, and found that she was DUI. Parker, like Moudenhauer, was nabbed for the third time for the crime.

The previous night, Henry Flores, 27, of Petaluma drove into two people who were loading groceries from their vehicle in the parking lot of the Greenbriar Apartments, at 200 Greenbriar Circle, and then drove away. He then lost control of the vehicle, and collided with a building in the office complex across the street. He ran off, but later was arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail for felony DUI and hit and run. His bail was set at $30,000.

While officers were investigating this incident, a 16-year-old youth drove into the complex and collided with a parked vehicle as she tried to go around police cars. She was arrested for DUI after officers found she had a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

Also, at about 10:45 p.m. on Oct. 15, Fallon Wilson, 26, of Petaluma was arrested on the 1400 block of East Washington Street after officers found that she was driving with a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit. She also had an outstanding no-bail DUI warrant for her arrest because she had failed to appear in court for her second DUI arrest. Officers also learned that she was on probation due to her DUI arrests.

Petaluma police officers have been conducting random checks on DUI probationers and parolees to be sure that they are complying with their terms and conditions. On Oct. 16, officers checked four of these offenders, abut none of them were found to be in violation, Savano said.

(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)