Lawmen Strive to Get Drunk Drivers Off Roads

Law enforcement officers fanned out in unusually heavy numbers Saturday to rid Southern California roads of drunk drivers.

The California Highway Patrol added at least five officers to patrol freeways in Orange County to handle the rush of holiday revelers on rain-slicked roads, a dispatcher said.

The CHP planned no New Year’s Eve sobriety checkpoints in the county, but CHP officers stopped 800 drivers at a sobriety checkpoint Friday night in Baldwin Park, arresting five on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

In Costa Mesa, seven two-officer teams were set up to look for drunk drivers, then put them behind bars with the help of specially assigned jail personnel, Police Sgt. Tom Winter said.

Other cities with beefed-up holiday patrols were Newport Beach, Garden Grove, Buena Park, and Fountain Valley, with five additional officers patrolling for drunk drivers.

Huntington Beach police reported one alcohol-related traffic death early Saturday.

Kelly R. Smith, 21, of Huntington Beach was killed when her parked car was struck from behind by another vehicle at Bolsa Chica State Park.

Police Lt. John Foster said the other driver, Patricia Hreha, 50, of Santa Ana, was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. She was in stable condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange, suffering broken bones, a hospital spokesman said.

Foster said Hreha was driving south on Pacific Coast Highway at 2:20 a.m. when the accident occurred at Golden West Street. Police said Smith’s car was parked just off the highway. The impact of the collision caused both cars to roll up and over an embankment.

A passenger in Smith’s car, Nigel Miller, 26, was hospitalized with minor injuries, police said.

In Los Angeles, the CHP canceled days off for many officers so they could staff an “Operation Impaired Driver” task force in downtown Los Angeles New Year’s Eve.

The 42-officer unit, double the usual deployment against drunk drivers, concentrated on the heavily traveled freeways--the Santa Monica, Harbor, Pasadena, Golden State and Hollywood--that converge in downtown Los Angeles.

“They’ll be out there just to look for drunk drivers, to stop them and arrest them,” CHP Officer Diane Lowery said. “It means that there will also be more officers to assist any motorists needing help.”

In Los Angeles, the CHP reported one alcohol-related traffic death about 11 p.m. Friday. Rene Rodriquez, 21, was booked on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter after the fiery crash on the Harbor Freeway near El Segundo Boulevard in South-Central Los Angeles.

Investigators said Rodriquez drove his Datsun 280-Z onto the freeway at about 100 m.p.h. When he swerved to avoid other traffic, the car struck the center divider and flipped on its side, skidding along the cement divider for 250 yards as it burst into flames.

A passenger, Raul Trevino, 28, of Lawndale, was trapped inside the car and killed. Rodriquez escaped with minor injuries.