License Law Won’t Curb All Drunks, Police Agree

Los Alamitos police would have taken Eddy Leonard’s license after he was stopped for drunk driving early Sunday morning.

Trouble was, the 28-year-old Long Beach man’s license already had been suspended by a judge for three previous drunk driving cases, Leonard assertedly told the arresting officer after he had backed into a patrol car.

The case illustrates what police say is a frustrating reality--seizing a drunk driving suspect’s license as allowed under a new state law rarely stops chronic drunks from driving under the influence.

“I don’t think it has any teeth,” Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Patrick Clemens said of the law, which took effect at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. “It’s certainly better than nothing. . . . But I’m telling you, the habitual drunk is not going to stop driving just because he doesn’t have a license.”

Orange County police agencies had confiscated the licenses of at least eight people Sunday morning, according to a preliminary tally.

In San Clemente, however, the lone driver who was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence didn’t lose a license because officers hadn’t received the required forms, police said. Newport Beach police also weren’t seizing licenses, because “we don’t have the policy forms and procedures available to implement that yet,” Lt. Don Chandler said.

Department of Motor Vehicles officials say they are concerned that some police agencies do not have the necessary materials and are trying to get them out as quickly as possible.

“We certainly want to get them the forms,” said Bill Gengler, a DMV spokesman in Sacramento.

Some departments were poised to use the new law but didn’t get the chance Sunday morning.

“Our last (drunk driving case) was at 11:30 p.m. Saturday,” Seal Beach Sgt. Dean Zanone said. “Our guys were really upset . . . but we couldn’t drag our feet and make the arrest after midnight, as much as we wanted to.”

Irvine police said they took away the license of 30-year-old Sandra Cristina Palomo of Santa Ana after her blood alcohol level tested above 0.10. She had been stopped originally for going through a red light at Main Street and MacArthur Boulevard about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, Lt. Mike Ogden said.

The law allows officers to confiscate licenses of drivers arrested for drunk driving if their blood-alcohol level is 0.10% or higher, authorities said. Efforts now are under way to bring that level down to 0.08, which became California’s legal standard for drunkenness on Jan. 1.

Under the new law, those arrested for drunk driving receive a 45-day temporary driver’s permit from police. They then have 10 days to appeal the license suspension to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

If the DMV upholds the suspension, drivers can request a court review. If the suspension still stands, first-time offenders will lose their licenses for a minimum of four months. Those with previous drunk driving convictions would lose their licenses for up to two years.

Drivers who refuse a blood, urine or breath test at the time of arrest automatically lose their licenses for at least six months, and as much as two years if they have had previous convictions.

Civil rights attorneys question the legality of such stiff penalties, but anti-drunk-driving groups and politicians praise the law as yet another weapon in the battle to get drunks off the state’s highways.

Police officers, eager to do their part, acknowledged Sunday that those most likely to be affected--and deterred--are first-time offenders.

“It’s going to get the attention of your average good citizen who has too many glasses of wine at dinner or too many beers,” Los AlamitosPolice Sgt. James Jessen said.

“It’s not for the repeat offender, it’s probably not going to help them because (in many cases) . . . they’re driving on suspended or revoked (licenses). . . . They’re not getting the message.”

Eddy L. Leonard was stopped by Los Alamitos police in the parking lot of the Starting Gate bar, across from the Los Alamitos Race Course on Katella Avenue about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, officials said.

He had first attracted a patrol officer’s attention while driving at a “high rate of speed” and straddling lanes on Katella Avenue. But he didn’t actually notice police following him until he tried to park in the bar’s lot and backed into Sgt. Arl Farris’ patrol car, dispatcher Bill Coleman said.

Police officials said he was cited for misdemeanor drunk driving and driving with a suspended license. He was released after being detained for several hours at the police station, but he was not issued the temporary driving permit because of the previous suspension, police said. Leonard could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Nor was Leonard’s car impounded, since he had managed to legally park it before he was detained, police said.

As for cracking down on repeat offenders, Los Alamitos’ Jessen said, “that is entirely up to the judges. . . . It’s in their hands to give stiffer sentences to the repeat offenders. Until they do, the repeat offender is not going to pay attention.”

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this report.