BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS 20 alcohol-related arrests...

BRIEFLY IN

THE NEWS

20 alcohol-related arrests made

Costa Mesa police arrested 17 motorists at a St. Patrick’s Day

sobriety checkpoint for driving under the influence.

Police conducted the checkpoint from 8 p.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m.

Thursday on northbound Newport Boulevard at Flower Street. A total of

2,825 vehicles went through the checkpoint, police said.

Officers stopped 378 motorists and checked for symptoms of

intoxication and did DUI investigations on 32 of them.

In addition to the 17 arrests for DUI, police arrested one person

for having an open container of alcohol and two for driving on a

suspended license.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the

California Office of Traffic Safety through the Business,

Transportation and Housing Agency. In 2002, there were 65

alcohol-related injury and fatal traffic collisions in Costa Mesa,

which accounted for 9.5% of all injury traffic collisions for the

year.

Missing teen could be in the area

Police are looking for a missing Laguna Niguel woman who may have

wandered into Costa Mesa or Newport Beach.

Sheena Marie Morales, 18, used her bus pass on Monday to head for

the Costa Mesa-Balboa Peninsula area, officials said. She suffers

from moderate bipolar disorder and has the developmental age of a

13-year-old.

Morales also wandered away in February and was found by Costa Mesa

police in the area of Fairview Road and Baker Street.

She is 5-feet-6 and 170 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

She was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue sweatpants, a dark

tank top and blue tennis shoes.

Anyone with any information should call the sheriff’s Missing

Persons Detail at (714) 647-7055 or (714) 628-7170.