The Antelope Valley Times

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Two DUI arrests, five impounds at Palmdale DUI Checkpoint

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PALMDALE – Two people were arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated at a sobriety checkpoint in Palmdale Friday night and early Saturday.

Officers also impounded five vehicles because drivers were arrested on suspicion of DUI or did not have valid driver’s licenses, authorities said.

The operation was conducted from 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., Friday in the southbound lanes of 10th Street West, between the intersections of Technology Drive & Auto Center Drive.  The results of the checkpoint are as follows:

  • 1,312 – Vehicles through checkpoint
  • 1,312 – Vehicles screened
  • 5 – Vehicles impounded
  • 1 – Vehicle stored
  • 7 – DUI tests performed
  • 2 – DUI arrests          
  • 6 – Suspended license violations
  • 6 – Unlicensed drivers
  • 5 – Unlicensed drivers’ vehicles released
  • 17 – Other violations

The checkpoint was funded by a grant from the State of California’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety

18 comments for "Two DUI arrests, five impounds at Palmdale DUI Checkpoint"

  1. I agree with you Ace. If they really wanted to catch these perps in the act it is as easy as staking out the bars and getting them before they even leave the parking lot.

  2. I’m hoping to SHAME these two from drinking and driving again, EVER!

    Sara Morgan, 26, Female, White of Palmdale
    11:40 p.m., 8-10-2012
    23152(A)/VC/M DUI ALCOHOL/DRUGS
    10th St West Technology

    Robert Hobart Redman, 59, Male, White of Palmdale
    7:35 p.m., 8-10-2012
    23152(A)/VC/M DUI ALCOHOL
    W 10th St and Technology Dr, Palmdale

  3. one thousand three hundred and twelve people were held up while going about their business in order to find 2 drunks and a total of about 30 violations. it saddens me that more people do not grasp how absolutely idiotic that number is- the percent of actual violators caught is like 0.02%. the sheriff’s department participates in these fiasco’s not because they are effective crime prevention tools, but because the state pays for the overtime they make while staffing them. huge waste of taxpayer money, no matter what the source is.

    • Mallster, we may actually have some common ground regarding these **FIASCO’S**. I too would like to see more DUI arrests. Keep in mind, these things serve more than the DUI purpose, they are also meant to get unlicensed and revoked drivers off our roads. Those are the same idiots who crash into me, you, and our families, and because they have no license, no insurance, you are stuck with the bill. Sure, your insurance will pay initially, then you will pay them back in the form of higher rates. Prior to January of 2012 (I believe it was), all cars were impounded for 30 days if the driver was unlicensed/suspended/revoked. Now, after the Democratic law makers in our state got their way, at a DUI checkpoint,the cops now have to give someone a reasonable amount of time for a licensed driver to show up to pick up the car. Then they take it home and give it right back to the offender. Chief Beck from LAPD took it a step further and has implemented that same rule even on traffic stops. At last LASD has not gone that insane, yet.
      So Mallster, what exactly is it you object to? The enforcement of DUI? Maybe you haven’t heard about the many recent DUI related deaths in this Valley. The time it takes to go through a checkpoint? Because it’s usually about 3-5 minutes at most. Are you angry the cops are there making easy overtime? Those cops are not being taken away from their normal job, they are there on overtime, as you stated. So what do you suggest to fight drunk driving?

      • If you go back about 6-8 months, there was an officer from the Palmdale station who was awarded and recognized for all the drunks he had gotten off the streets. More than any other deputy, or group of deputies.
        How did he do it? By patrolling the streets.
        Realitycheck likes blaming Dems for, well, whatever he seems to be blaming them for. Whatever. But let’s be honest. These checkpoints aren’t for catching drunks. These are for checking driver’s papers. Which is also fine. But be honest about it.
        I know of no deaths being stopped because of these checkpoints. I do know they caught a drunk who had killed someone just before driving through the checkpoint.
        Would of been nice it they had stopped him before he killed someone by patrolling and doing the work the deputy in Palmdale had been doing, instead of waiting for the drunks to fall into their laps.
        I also remember a “DUI saturation” patrol the deputies did INSTEAD of the checkpoint about a year ago. If I’m not mistaken, they picked up something like 20+ drunks that night.
        So since realitycheck asked, I suggest they do what has proven to be most effective in fighting against drunk driving. And that would be patrolling for drunks.
        Unless he just happens to be a deputy looking for easy overtime. In which case he should stick to the ineffective checkpoints.
        Doesn’t appear that he has a day job, so why not?

        • Damn Gerald, don’t go making sense now. You’ll confuse the sheep. Sad how they are so willing to pay hundreds of thousands a year in overtime, so we can have a “show us your papers” police state. Just like Germany. rc doesn’t believe in anything but men with power. And now he’ll have to call you a criminal, cuz that’s what his men in power tell him to do. And he’s nothing if not obedient.

        • Whoa, eeeasssssyyyyyy there Gerald.Just got home from my day job…LOL. I agree with 99.9% of your points. I said I’d like to see more DUI arrests in the first line of my post. I too, think that one or two is too low for these operations, for the money spent. And yes, I also enjoyed the article from a while back about the Palmdale deputy who arrested a boatload of DUI’s. I was simply asking Mallster what exactly he was protesting. If saturating the city with patrolmen results in more arrests, I’m for it! Of course, then you would have a segment of people here who would say “oh sure, they are picking on easy targets coming out of bars, that’s not fair….waaaaah.” Now, as for your comment that you “know of no deaths being stopped because of these checkpoints” Well that statement is ignorant, and it makes no sense! Who among us knows the future- what the impound of a car, a drunk arrest, or arrest of any criminal prevented?? As for the blame of Dems, see this site: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/10/gov-jerry-brown-puts-limits-on-dui-checkpoints.html
          “One Bill Gil” Cedillo and Jerry Brown made it harder to impound cars at checkpoints. So if you voted for them, shame on you. As far as the honesty about it being a “show me your papers”, I don’t really see the cops making it a secret. They flat out tell you. It’s the media billing it only as a DUI thing.

  4. I hope you’re counting yourself as one of the DUI arrests you would make. Oh wait, though, you’re not a cop, just a wannabe. With what you’ve been posting, I agree with some others on here,,,,,you are hitting the bottle too hard!

    • So tell us about a noteworthy case you were involved in. If there is one. We are waiting. Or, tell us about when you came up on one of those “Nazi Like Road Blocks” and you told the man you weren’t going to comply.

    • Ace is a lonely soul that can’t find any other outlet for his boredom here.

      It’s either this or internet porn, and being his an unemployed nobody that just wants to attack the system, he is bored once again because he has trolled all the sites and there is nothing new for him.

      He will return. Unless he lucks out and finds new porn.

      Good luck Ace! If you where a heterosexual you would find so much more porn out there, just a limit on the gay stuff….huh buddy?

  5. David, I agree. I’ve seen some on this site saying the checkpoints are only on the eastside. Wrong! I’ve seen them down the street from Snooky’s on Sierra Hwy, Avenue J near Doublez, on Avenue I near Elm, and on Avenue L near Schooners. I would like to see more arrests for DUI, but it’s my understanding the locations, layout, etc of these are closely regulated by the state, not the local police. I DO appreciate them impounding the vehicles driven by illegals and others with no license or revoked licenses. Don’t come here whining about DUI deaths, then complain about checkpoints! Sammy, from another article on this site…this means YOU!

    • Good catch, Captain. The locations and such are regulated by the State of California, not the County of Los Angeles or other local agency. That said, the law enforcement officers performing the DUI enforcement checks are Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies, funded by the State of California through a grant.

  6. The Sheriff’s Deputies have been at this same location in the recent past. The good thing about it is they are moving the DUI checkpoints to places where they are more likely to attract their intended target audience. . . drunk drivers. They rotate the locations to keep an element of surprise, a good thing. Good work by our local law enforcement in this area! Everyone should be on board with “when you drive, drive sober.” Too many drunk driver caused deaths and injuries in the Antelope Valley over the years.