Sheriff's Department DUI checkpoint. Image via sheriff's office
Sheriff’s Department DUI checkpoint. Image via sheriff’s office

Law enforcement officers arrested 13 suspected drunken drivers around the Del Mar Racetrack during patrols that began a few hours after 75th season of local thoroughbred racing got underway, a sheriff’s sergeant said Friday.

The multi-agency patrols around the seaside racetrack, and in Del Mar, Encinitas, San Diego and Solana Beach, got underway at 5 p.m. Thursday, according to San Diego Sheriff‘s Sgt. David Cheever.

The 14 teams of deputies and officers stopped 183 vehicles between Thursday evening and 2 a.m. Friday and made 13 suspected drunken driving arrests, including one driver who was found to be in possession of brass knuckles, Cheever said.

The patrol officers also cited one person for possession of marijuana and ticketed 50 others for various violations, Cheever said. Four vehicles were impounded.

Cheever said the law enforcement officers took to the streets to deter drunken driving and to remove suspected drunken drivers from the roadways.

— City News Service

Chris Jennewein is founder and senior editor of Times of San Diego.