Sonoma County St. Patrick’s weekend DUI arrests total more than 3 dozen

More than three dozen drivers suspected of driving impaired were arrested in Sonoma County during the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, according to law enforcement officials Monday.

On highways and county roads, CHP officers arrested 20 drivers, CHP Sgt. Al Capurro said. That included a suspected DUI driver who led officers on a high-speed chase on St. Patrick’s Day afternoon between Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park on Highway 101 and along surface streets.

After crashing into a Toyota pickup on Standish Avenue, the suspect ran on foot. He was found hiding in a portable toilet and arrested on suspicion of drunken and reckless driving and hit-and-run, the CHP said.

Of the 11 arrested by Santa Rosa police, several drivers crashed, including one early Monday into a fence at Bicentennial and Range avenues.

“We’re glad he hit a fence and not a person,” Santa Rosa police Sgt. Summer Black said Monday.

Officers throughout Sonoma County focused on drunken driving from Friday to early Monday to coincide with the holiday that for many includes beer and whiskey, and nationwide is one of the deadliest holidays for fatal crashes, according to law enforcement statistics.

In the city of Santa Rosa, six of the 11 drivers were arrested on St. Patrick’s Day with the other five taken into custody Friday and Sunday. The drivers ranged in age from 22 to 73, Black said.

None of the crashes involved serious injuries, Black said.

Petaluma officers made five DUI arrests during the weekend, said Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons.

Rohnert Park police made at least two arrests but a weekend total wasn’t available Monday. One came late Sunday night when a driver crashed in a residential neighborhood but drove away.

He was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, hit-and-run and drunken driving with a prior conviction, police said.