A Sonoma County DUI task force arrested 163 people, about a quarter more than last year, during a 17-day heightened enforcement period during the holidays.
The Winter Mobilization Period began Dec. 16 and ended at midnight on Jan. 1. There was one fatal DUI collision during the period and six DUI crashes that resulted in injuries to seven people.
The fatal crash occurred at Highway 116 and Neeley Road about 3 a.m Monday.
The CHP is continuing to investigate the collision, which is suspected to have been caused by a drunken driver. The driver's name was not released.
A serious injury was reported in Petaluma on New Year's Day after midnight when a suspected DUI driver struck a 15-year-old pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Kristopher Tolson, 15, was admitted to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital with a possible broken right leg and injured right shoulder, police said. He was crossing the street in a marked crosswalk at Edith Street at East Washington Street with a group of people, including his brother, shortly after 12:30 a.m.
All vehicles stopped except one driven by Wesley Pickford, 20, of Novato, police said. Pickford's initial blood-alcohol test showed a level of 0.15 percent, almost twice the legal limit for driving, police said. He was booked on felony DUI charges.
The task force arrested 163 drivers suspected of being drunk this year, a 23 percent increase over last year when 126 drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI.
The number of injury collisions, six, was the same as 2010, said Petaluma Police Sgt. Ken Savano, who leads the multi-agency task force.
The grant-funded crackdown included extra police patrols, DUI checkpoints, warrant checks and stings of improperly licensed drivers and repeat drunken drivers.
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