Sonoma County DUI arrests reach 109 in nearly 3 weeks

An 18-day focus on finding drunken or drugged drivers netted 109 arrests involving drivers stopped in checkpoints, on Sonoma County roadways or involved in crashes.

Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Mike Neumanville said Tuesday the arrests were made between Aug. 21 and the end of Labor Day.

The county’s 13 law enforcement agencies routinely participate in such efforts centered around holiday periods, when people may be more tempted to drink and drive.

The bulk of the arrests for this end-of-summertime period were made by Santa Rosa officers, with 51 arrests, and at least 32 people were arrested by the CHP.

Earlier this summer, the countywide effort resulted in 36 arrests for suspected DUI drivers during the three-day Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Another round of added enforcement will be conducted during the Halloween weekend.

National statistics show that in 2013, there were 10,076 people killed in drunken-driving crashes across the country, Neumanville said, citing statistics from the National Traffic Safety Administration. The number of California DUI deaths in 2013 was 867.