Police take DUI action

Marisa O’Neil

A swarm of patrol cars hit the streets late Friday night, trolling

for any clue -- a little weave, darkened headlights, a slight

hesitation, excessive speed.

Their quarry? Drunken drivers.

Costa Mesa police hold sobriety checkpoints throughout the city

about six times a year. But Friday night’s so-called saturation

patrol, which fielded nine two-officer patrol units with the sole

intent of tracking down impaired drivers, was the first such patrol

operation the department has conducted in nearly two years, Sgt. Rich

Allum said.

“When someone looks out the window of a bar tonight, I want them

to see red and blue lights,” Allum told officers during a briefing

before they hit the streets.

Costa Mesa police have a reputation for catching drunken drivers.

Officers routinely win Century Awards from Mothers Against Drunk

Driving, presented for making more than 100 DUI arrests in a year.

This year, Officer Tony Yannizzi earned his fifth one.

Yannizzi and Allum -- who teamed up on Friday -- have made

thousands of DUI arrests. Part of their success is their training and

knowing how to spot impaired drivers.

But the sheer numbers of them passing through the city mean many

impaired drivers come to the officers, Allum pointed out.

“There’s just so darn many of them,” he said.

Last year, half of Costa Mesa’s 10 fatal traffic crashes were

alcohol-related, Allum said.

Sobriety checkpoints are one, high-profile way of bringing

attention to the problem. Though Costa Mesa police usually arrest

about 10 impaired drivers during a checkpoint, the operation’s main

purpose is education, Allum said.

Friday’s beefed-up patrols were funded by grants the department

received from the state Office of Traffic Safety in a program called

Remove Aggressive and Impaired Drivers. It added eight police cars

and a helicopter patrol to the regular DUI roving patrols the

department fields four days a week.

“These are more effective than checkpoints, but they don’t educate

as many people -- just the person getting arrested,” Allum said. “But

it serves a purpose. It takes an impaired driver off the road.”

The patrol cars headed out just before 9 p.m. Friday.

Erratic driving can give officers cause to pull over a driver. So

can a broken tail light or darkened headlights after nightfall.

During their first half hour on the street, Allum and Yannizzi

made a rapid succession of four car stops for minor vehicle code

violations. None of those drivers was impaired, and all were let off

with a warning.

“It would be nice if we didn’t find any [drunken drivers] and

nobody died tonight,” Allum said.

Then, just 45 minutes into the operation, another team made its

first arrest. According to police, that driver had a blood alcohol

content of .21% -- close to three times the legal limit of .08%.

“You know what? We educated him,” Allum said.

From then on, the hits kept coming.

One team arrested a man driving his Mercedes on Baker Street with

close to twice the legal limit in his blood stream, according to a

preliminary test. He also admitted to taking Vicodin, which

intensifies the effects of alcohol, Officer Michael Yamada said.

Another team pulled over a driver on Newport Boulevard and gave

him a field sobriety test. As they did so, a man came out of a nearby

doughnut shop to watch and talk with Allum.

The man told Allum that Costa Mesa police had arrested him on

suspicion of DUI 10 years ago. After that, he went into rehab and has

been clean ever since, he said.

“And he’s going to go in there and tell them about what happened

to him,” Allum said as the man made his way back to other customers

in the shop.

Early Saturday morning, one of their last arrests on suspicion of

DUI was a high school student who just turned 18. She’s due to graduate next week.

“This’ll stay in the system with her for 10 years,” Officer Jose

Torres said of the arrest.

By the end of the night, police pulled over nearly 100 drivers and

arrested seven people on suspicion of drunken driving. That’s nearly

the number of arrests they make at a checkpoint, which requires about

twice the officers.

They impounded another four cars, driven by people whose licenses

were suspended or who were driving without insurance.

“You just hope somebody gets the point,” Allum said.

At least one person did.

As police made an arrest in a residential neighborhood, two men

stood in a nearby driveway. They watched while the driver blew for an

alcohol test.

One of the men shook his head.

“I walk,” he told his friend. “I walk. I won’t drive.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil @latimes.com.