2 DUI Suspects Arrested at Checkpoint

Out of 710 drivers screened, the made two arrests for suspicion of drunken driving and towed 14 vehicles at a sobriety and registration checkpoint on Nov. 23.

Police set up the grant-funded checkpoint at South Novato Boulevard at Redwood Boulevard. Officers conducted 15 field sobriety tests, yielding the two arrests. Seven citations were issued for unlicensed drivers and six for suspended licenses. In addition, officers cited five drivers for moving violations.

At the , 583 drivers were screened and 18 field sobriety tests were issued on South Novato Boulevard near Sunset Parkway on Sept. 2, but nobody was handcuffed for DUI.

The California Highway Patrol reported that drunken driving arrests over the Thanksgiving weekend were down from 2010, while traffic deaths over the same period increased.

Preliminary numbers showed that 1,350 drunken drivers were arrested statewide between 6 p.m. Wednesday and 11:59 p.m. Saturday, compared to 1,419 arrests in 2010.

Traffic deaths over the same period nearly doubled, with 21 people reportedly killed, compared to 12 in 2010, according to the CHP.

In the Bay Area, one person was killed in a traffic-related incident this year, compared to zero deaths in 2010, according to the CHP. Arrests for drunken driving in the Bay Area were up to 227, compared to 249 over the holiday weekend in 2010.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.