Local News in Brief : Driver Arrested as Car Crashes Sobriety Check

Fifteen people were arrested at a police sobriety checkpoint in Northridge late Friday and early Saturday morning, including a man who crashed into a parked car awaiting inspection, police said.

About 720 vehicles were stopped at the checkpoint, operated at Lassen Street and Tampa Avenue from 10 p.m. Friday to 2:15 a.m. Saturday, said Sgt. Richard Brownell of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Twenty field sobriety tests were administered, Brownell said, and 15 people were arrested.

Kevin Wilson, 30, of Northridge was arrested after his car skidded into the rear of stopped car that, in turn, bumped a third vehicle, Brownell said.

Wilson was not injured in the accident, but three or four people in the other two cars complained of neck pain, Brownell said. They declined an offer to be taken to a hospital, he said.

Wilson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of a drug, and Brownell said a small amount of marijuana was found in his possession.

Another of the arrested motorists, John Ortega of Simi Valley, was accused of possessing less than a gram of cocaine and was wanted on a warrant for failure to pay child support, Brownell said.