CHP reports Santa Cruz-area New Year’s Eve DUI enforcement, crashes
APTOS >> The local California Highway Patrol unit made 14 Santa Cruz County impaired- driver arrests in its annual three- day New Year’s Eve maximum enforcement period, stretching from Thursday evening to late Sunday.
By comparison, during last New Year’s Eve enforcement period, lasting just 30 hours, officers made seven DUI arrests in the Santa Cruz County area, CHP Officer Sam Courtney said. Previous CHP reports show 24 arrests were made during a four- day period in 2018 and 15 arrests were made in a three- day period in 2017.
One of the weekend’s crashes included a driver colliding with a parked Santa Cruz County sheriff’s deputy patrol vehicle around 10:30 p.m. Saturday near Thurwachter and West Beach roads. The oncoming car struck the deputy’s car — with the deputy inside — in the front driverside section, causing minor damage, according to agency spokeswoman Ashley Keehn. The driver reportedly fled at a high rate of speed, leading deputies on a chase before crashing the car again and sustained injuries, she said.
Authorities are not yet identifying the driver, as no charges have been filed while the investigation continues, according to Keehn. The driver was transported to an out-of-county hospital for treatment and the deputy was uninjured in the crash, she said.
Separately, a man was arrested on suspicion of impaired operation of a bicycle in the early hours of Monday morning on Capitola Road near Harbor View Court, just outside the enforcement period, Courtney said. The bicycle crashed into a center road median and the rider, allegedly highly intoxicated, suffered major injuries, he said.
There were no local DUIrelated fatalities during the 2020 enforcement period, compared to a single automobile versus pedestrian fatality during the similar 2018-2019 period.
Statewide CHP officers recorded at least 56
DUI crash-related deaths, Courtney said. Additionally, officers made 709 arrests for driving under the inf luence during the 78hour holiday enforcement effort, compared 491 arrests made during a shorter enforcement period in 2019.
The latest statewide New Year’s Eve enforcement period numbers reflect a “significant increase” from the number of DUI arrests and people killed in DUI-related collisions during the 78- hour enforcement period just a week earlier for Christmas, Courtney said. There were 38 reported deaths and 573 arrests statewide over Christmas, he said.