Crackdown results in 10 DWI arrests, other charges

Garland County sheriff's deputies and Hot Springs police stopped over 100 cars and arrested 10 impaired drivers over the Christmas holidays as part of the national "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" enforcement mobilization, spokesmen for the agencies said.

The deputies and officers joined other state and local law enforcement agencies in the annual year-end operation, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, designed "to get drunk drivers off the street," a news release said.

During the mobilization, the sheriff's department made 63 traffic stops while conducting saturation patrols and fixed patrols, arresting three impaired motorists for driving while intoxicated and apprehending four fugitives on various warrants, the release said.

"These extra patrols, coupled with our social media campaign of awareness undoubtedly helped reduce the number of impaired drivers on our streets and made our community safer during the holiday season," Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick said in the release.

"I would like to thank each of the deputies who participated outside of their normal shift hours for helping protect our citizens," he added.

Hot Springs police made seven DWI arrests, 40 vehicle stops, issued six citations for no insurance, seven speeding tickets, five citations for driving on a suspended driver's license, 21 warnings and arrested one fugitive, Cpl. Joey Williams, the department's public relations officer, said Wednesday.

The operation began Dec. 14 and continued through Jan. 1, using increased patrols and saturation tactics to target impaired drivers.

The "Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving" campaign, supported by the NHTSA, began Nov. 23 and ended Dec. 12, followed by the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign.

All 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have by law set a threshold making it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher. In 2017, there were 10,874 people killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, an average of one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 48 minutes, the release said.

These alcohol impaired-driving fatalities accounted for 29 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the U.S. last year.

Local on 01/12/2019

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