Drunken Driving Alleged on Basis of Firsthand Evidence : Police: Driver’s affairs take a turn for the worse when his pickup truck rams a trailer used as a sobriety checkpoint.

Lady luck was not with Gustavo Gomez Garcia Sunday morning. He was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after he plowed into the side of the Garden Grove Police Department’s sobriety checkpoint trailer.

Sgt. Paul McInerny said two officers had just finished operating their sobriety checkpoint at 2:08 a.m. and were headed for the city yard in the 13800 block of Newhope Street to return the trailer, which is furnished with a table and chairs and is used to book suspects bound for jail.

The officers got out of the van they used to tow the trailer and were unlocking the front gate of the yard when they saw a truck barreling toward the trailer, McInerny said.

“They tried to get the driver’s attention by waving, but it just slammed into the sobriety trailer,” McInerny said.

The officers, whose names were not released, were unharmed. The driver of the pickup truck, 31-year-old Garcia of Santa Ana, suffered injuries in the crash and was trapped in his vehicle afterward.

Firefighters were needed to pull the driver out of the smashed truck. Paramedics later took him to UCI Medical Center’s detention area in Orange, where he was listed in stable condition Sunday.

Garcia has been placed under arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence and for possession of methamphetamines, McInerny said.

It was the first time any police sobriety checkpoint vehicles had ever been damaged, he said.

“It’s strange because there have been many near misses at these checkpoints,” McInerny said. “But this crash happened away from the checkpoint area. We always tell our men to be extra careful and cautious out on the streets at night.”

Garden Grove police had arrested 10 people on suspicion of drunk driving late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning.

The trailer is used to process suspects for arrest after they fail sobriety tests given at the checkpoint. Losing it won’t affect the program, though.