Local News in Brief : Countywide : Drunk-Driving Arrests in Holiday Period Drop
Drunk-driving arrests on Orange County’s major highways were down from last year’s Fourth of July weekend, the California Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
CHP officers in the county arrested 93 motorists for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs between 6 p.m. Friday and midnight Monday, compared to 113 last year, CHP spokesman Keith Thornhill said.
The CHP breakdown for driving-under-the-influence arrests this year showed there were 50 in the Santa Ana area, 20 in the Westminster area and 23 in the San Juan Capistrano area.
Statewide, arrests were up. CHP officers arrested 2,257 motorists for drunk driving, compared to 1,965 arrests last year.
In Newport Beach over the three-day holiday weekend, officers arrested 297 people on various charges, including fighting, narcotics possession, and drunk and disorderly conduct. There were 174 arrests last year, police said.
Despite the high number of arrests, there were no major incidents. “It was pretty sedate,” Newport Police Officer Robert Oakley said Tuesday.
Newport Beach police brought in an additional 50 officers from other cities, the CHP and the Sheriff’s Department to help handle beach crowds. Oakley said the extra enforcement helped keep the crowds under control.
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