DUI Arrests Up This Year

Countywide arrests for driving under the influence increased by 29 percent this holiday season compared to the same time last year, according to the Petaluma Police Department, which serves as the lead agency for regional DUI enforcement.

During the two week Winter Mobilization Enforcement that began Dec. 16, 163 people in Sonoma County were arrested for drunk driving, up from 129 people during last year's Christmas holiday. That includes people arrested at multiple DUI checkpoints over the holidays, including in Sonoma and Rohnert Park, and the Novato man arrested Sunday after hitting a 15-year-old boy with his car as the boy was crossing East Washington.

"There is a same amount of focused enforcement as in years past, so there’s not much different that we are doing," said Petaluma Police Department's Sgt. Ken Savano. "The good news is that crashes haven’t gone up."

Over the past two weeks there were a total of six injury DUI crashes, with seven people hurt. One DUI fatality that occurred early on Jan. 1 when a man struck a guard rail while driving on Highway 116 near Neely Road in Guerneville and rolled his truck.