Sonoma County Sees Slight Uptick in Memorial Day DUI Arrests

DUI arrests over the Memorial Day holiday weekend were down in several Bay Area counties compared to the same three-day weekend last year, authorities said today.

Unfortunately, Sonoma saw a slight uptick in DUI numbers over the holiday weekend. The county had 53 Memorial Day weekend arrests for DUI, up from 43 the previous year.

Sonoma County also had two injury DUI collisions over the weekend, one each on Sunday and Monday.

San Francisco saw a 55 percent drop, with only 27 arrests this year compared to 42 in 2011.

"I hope this means that people are getting the message about driving stone-cold sober every single time," police Capt. Denis O'Leary said in a statement.

Santa Clara County also saw a sharp drop, from 144 drunken driving arrests last year to 80 this year, according to California AVOID, which runs multi-agency anti-DUI enforcement campaigns in each Bay Area county over various holiday weekend 

The holiday crackdown lasted until the end of the night on Monday. AVOID programs will return with increased patrols and DUI checkpoints for the Independence Day holiday, according to officials.

Article is by Bay City News and Alexis Fitts