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Tag: driver

  • CHPD: 9 cited, 1 arrested at weekend DUI checkpoint

    DUI Checkpoint sign. Photo by Luke Otterstad
    Stock photo, Citrus Heights Police Department DUI and driver’s license checkpoint.

    Citrus Heights police conducted a six-hour DUI checkpoint on San Juan Avenue Friday night, screening 689 vehicles and reporting nine citations, two vehicle impounds, and one arrest.

    Although eight sobriety tests were administered by officers with Citrus Heights Police Department’s Traffic Unit, Sergeant David Gutierrez told The Sentinel there were “zero DUI arrests” during the checkpoint — though one was arrested for a “felony no-bail drug warrant.” Gutierrez said officers also issued various citations for violations including driving without a valid license or with a suspended license.

    Police announced on Thursday the DUI and driver’s license checkpoint would begin at 8 p.m. Friday and continue through 2 a.m., with the location chosen being “based on collision statistics and frequency of DUI arrests” in an effort to deter drunk and drugged driving.

    As previously reported on The Sentinel, CHPD Officer Anthony Boehle said the Department goes out of its way to publicize DUI operations ahead of time in an effort to raise awareness and prevent drunk drivers from getting on the road in the first place.

    “DUI checkpoints are not intended to make arrests,” Officer Boehle said, stating the more people know about heavy DUI crackdowns, the less likely they are to attempt a drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. “It’s all about public awareness.”

    In contrast to the checkpoints, Boehle explained the Department’s “Saturation Patrols” have a much higher potential for making arrests, because of a difference in goals. While checkpoints may arrest a small number of drunk drivers, he said “Saturation Patrols” are deployed specifically to “hunt” for DUI drivers — adding that a single patrol car can make more arrests in one night, than a checkpoint can in the same time.

    [Related: 11 arrested in Citrus Heights Memorial Day weekend DUI crackdown]

    Funding for Friday night’s DUI checkpoint came from a grant Citrus Heights police received last year from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
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  • Volvo Crashes Through Front of Safeway on Greenback

    Man drives Volvo into Safeway. Photo credit: Luke Otterstad
    A man backed his Volvo into the font of Safeway on Greenback Lane, causing damage to the frontage, Saturday. //CH Sentinel

    Citrus Heights’ Safeway received an unwanted cosmetic adjustment over the weekend when a driver rammed his older-model Volvo into the front of the building, damaging a large pillar and part of the front wall.

    According to employees, the crash resulted in a “ton of smoke,” accompanied by the smell of burning rubber in the store, which lingered for several hours afterwards.

    A witness said the incident occurred when an “elderly gentleman” began backing up from his parking spot, but continued in reverse past an oncoming car — ripping the front bumper off the other vehicle — and then crashing through the side of a column before finally coming to a halt just outside Safeway’s entry doors, narrowly missing a family.

    “I was scared,” a Safeway employee was overheard saying afterwards. “All I heard was a crash, and then saw a bunch of smoke.”

    Although causing quite a scene for shoppers, reports indicate that no one was hurt in the incident and that the building did not suffer any structural damage.

    The driver who had her front bumper ripped off by the runaway Volvo called the event an “accident,” and wasn’t upset with the driver for hitting her car, believing he had likely mixed up the gas and brake pedals.