After making 22 drunken driving arrests in the first 12 hours of the holiday weekend, California Highway Patrol officers in San Diego County made just 25 more DUI arrests in the following 48 hours, authorities said Monday.
The 47 total DUI arrests by San Diego-area CHP officers between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Monday is down from 66 during the same period last year, CHP officer Tommy Doerr said. That discrepancy comes as a surprise after the 22 arrests Friday night and Saturday morning marked a 38 percent increase over that same period last year.
In both 2016 and this year, there was one fatality on San Diego County roads through the first 2 1/2 days of the July Fourth holiday weekend, Doerr said. This year’s fatality occurred late Friday night in Otay Mesa West when a 58-year-old man wearing dark clothing and crossing Palm Avenue outside a crosswalk was struck by an SUV.
Across the state, drunken-driving arrests in CHP jurisdiction are down from 948 last year to 896 this year, Doerr said. Fatalities are also down on California roadways, from 23 in 2016 to 21 in the first 60 hours of the holiday weekend this year.
Of the 17 people killed in collisions in CHP territory, nine were not wearing seat belts.
—City News Service