Sobriety Checkpoint Truck Hit

A man on probation for drunk driving was arrested Sunday in Van Nuys after he crashed his car into a tow truck parked at a sobriety checkpoint that netted 13 other motorists suspected of driving drunk, Los Angeles police said.

Jose DeJesus Martinez, 27, of Goleta rear-ended the tow truck parked at the checkpoint at Woodman Avenue and Stagg Street about 12:20 a.m., Officer Bill Rice said. Martinez, who has four drunk-driving convictions, was being held in lieu of $15,000 bail on suspicion of felony drunk driving, Rice said.

The tow truck driver, Andrew Barker, 27, of Van Nuys, complained of back and neck pain after the crash but was not hospitalized. Martinez was not injured, police said.

Rice said that of the 2,150 vehicles that passed through the checkpoint, 239 were stopped at random. Sixteen drivers were given field sobriety tests, and 14 were arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, Rice said.

The checkpoint, operated between 6 p.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday, was part of a nationwide drive to reduce such driving during the holidays. The program was promoted by Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

At another sobriety checkpoint in the Antelope Valley, sheriff’s deputies reported checking about 600 drivers for sobriety and arresting three.

On Saturday, members of MADD unfurled a 3,000-foot-long red ribbon in Washington as a memorial to those killed by drunk drivers.