Police Haul In 225 Drivers on Drunk Charges

It was not exactly a happy New Year for scores of Orange County motorists who apparently ignored repeated warnings about drinking and driving and who spent at least part of the first day of 1985 in jail.

Although no serious accidents were reported on the county’s highways this New Year’s holiday, 225 drivers were arrested from Monday evening through early Tuesday evening on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, including 19 stopped at a roadblock set up by the Anaheim and Buena Park police departments.

‘Greater Awareness’

Donetta Walker, a communications supervisor with the California Highway Patrol, attributed the absence of serious accidents and the high number of arrests in part to a “very intensive campaign to stop drunken drivers.”

“Our officers are taking it very seriously: They’re out there and they’re arresting,” Walker said.

In addition, officers have noticed more limousines and taxicabs in use this year than in the past, perhaps an indication of a “greater awareness” of the dangers of mixing drinking and driving, she said.

Because the New Year’s holiday fell during a three-day weekend last year, a precise comparison is difficult. However, during the 1983-84 holiday weekend, two people died and more than 200 people were arrested in Orange County on suspicion of drunk driving.

Roadblock Stops More Than 1,000

In the two-day holiday weekend of 1982-83, the county recorded 96 drunk-driving arrests and one fatal accident.

The Anaheim-Buena Park roadblock, which had been announced in advance without the location, was set up in the 100 block of South Knott Avenue next to Buena Park Community Hospital from 9:30 p.m. Monday to 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, Anaheim police Sgt. Jack Jansen said.

Officers from the two departments stopped 1,099 drivers, Jansen said. Besides the 19 allegedly drunk drivers, police arrested four of those drivers’ passengers for being drunk in an auto, he said. Police also arrested two people for having open alcoholic-beverage containers in cars, three for hazardous driving and one for an outstanding warrant, he said.

Anaheim police also made 18 drunk-driving arrests in other parts of the city, a department spokesman said. The Buena Park Police Department reported eight additional drunk-driving arrests in other parts of that city.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department reported 61 drunk-driving arrests during the 24-hour period ending at 6 p.m. Tuesday. A total of 253 drunk-driving arrests were reported for the four-day period beginning Friday evening.

The CHP reported 30 drunk-driving arrests Monday night and early Tuesday morning. For the period from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. New Year’s Day, the CHP made 56 arrests in the Santa Ana area, 35 in the Westminster area and 29 in the San Juan Capistrano area for a total of 120 arrests.

Misplacing Their Cars

In comparison, during the three-day holiday period of 1983-84, the CHP made 103 drunk-driving arrests.

The Santa Ana Police Department arrested 23 allegedly drunk drivers between 10 p.m. Monday and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

From Monday evening to early Tuesday evening in Newport Beach, 14 drivers were arrested along with two other would-be drivers who were so drunk they could not find their cars, police said.

In Costa Mesa, where four motorists were arrested for driving under the influence, police reported sending drunks home in taxicabs.

Huntington Beach, the county’s third largest city, recorded nine drunk-driver arrests, and Garden Grove, the fourth largest city, five.

Fullerton had five arrests; Fountain Valley, Irvine and La Habra had four each; Stanton, three; Cypress, Orange, Placentia, Seal Beach and Tustin had two each and La Palma, Los Alamitos, Westminster and San Clemente had one drunk-driving arrest each.

Only two police departments--Brea-Yorba Linda and Laguna Beach--reported no drunk-driving arrests.

Sandy Smith, a spokeswoman for the Orange County coroner’s office, said preliminary figures show that 267 people died in traffic accidents in the county during 1984.

In San Diego, an Irvine man was killed when the car he was riding in skidded out of control and slammed into a utility pole, police said. Kim Arvid Natwick, 29, was one of six passengers in a Datsun driven by Richard William Stewart, 31, of San Diego, police said.

Another passenger, Fiona Elizabeth Griffiths, 31, of San Diego, also was killed.

Stewart was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released.

A spokesman for the San Diego County coroner’s office said Natwick was a salesman for a cardiac pacemaker firm. The accident occurred about 3:25 a.m. Tuesday.