Local police departments report results of weekend DUI checkpoints

The Costa Mesa and Fountain Valley police departments performed DUI and driver’s license checkpoints within their city limits on Friday night.

Costa Mesa, working in conjunction with the Santa Ana division of the California Highway Patrol, stopped 304 vehicles at its checkpoint set up at Newport Boulevard and Flower Street.

Officers performed 43 field sobriety tests and made 14 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A driver was also taken into custody for public intoxication and resisting arrest, police said.

There were eight tickets written for driver’s license violations, and 12 vehicles were impounded.

The checkpoint saw 1,856 vehicles pass through it between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. on Friday evening.

Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Dan Miles, of the department’s traffic safety bureau, said the law enforcement agency receives funding from the Office of Traffic Safety that aids in holding the checkpoints. The department has been aiming to have four DUI checkpoints annually for multiple years, he said.

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Miles said checkpoints are an educational tool, so while Newport Boulevard may be an area that sees a high volume of traffic, the DUI enforcement operation is moved around the city.

“If you can educate one person and get them from getting out there and drinking and driving, then we saved a life,” Miles said. “… I’ve arrested over 1,200 DUIs in my career personally, and that’s 1,200 lives saved, in my opinion. Every DUI arrest we make is a life saved, and if we can prevent that, that is even better. It’s immeasurable because we don’t know who we’re affecting, but if we can just reach that one person — ideally, we want to reach a lot of people — but if we just reach that one person that could have made that bad decision that one night that ended up in somebody dying, then we did our job.”

Miles added that the grant money from the Office of Traffic Safety also helps provide bicycle, motorcycle and pedestrian education and enforcement, as well as patrols that emphasize primary collision factors such as red light, speeding and cell phone violations.

Fountain Valley police staged a checkpoint near Brookhurst Street and Heil Avenue during the same window, and officials counted 994 vehicles that passed through the checkpoint.

Authorities evaluated four drivers, two of which were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Additionally, nine drivers received a citation for being unlicensed.

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