ONE MAN ARRESTED DURING DUI COURT STING

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY - DECEMBER 30th, 2011

‘AVOID the 12’ conducted a court sting yesterday afternoon at the Santa Barbara Superior Court. 

A Santa Barbara Man plead guilty to his DUI charge and was advised in court that he is not allowed to drive unless he has a valid driver’s license.  His license had been suspended as of Christmas Day due to his DUI arrest.

After leaving court, the man was observed driving out of a nearby by parking garage.  When stopped by deputies, the man handed over his court papers and also the paper indicating that his driver’s license was suspended.  The very afternoon of his DUI conviction and he already violated his probation terms.  The man was cited for driving on a suspended driver’s license and his vehicle was towed on a 30 day hold.

Numerous locations were also checked yesterday for people with warrants for DUI, but no subjects were located.  Several people were not home at the time and information was passed along of how they could clear up the warrants.

105 people have been arrested on suspicion of DUI since the ‘AVOID the 12’ winter mobilization period began on Friday December 16th.

2 DUI checkpoints are planned for tonight in Santa Barbara and there will be a checkpoint on Saturday night in Santa Maria.

‘AVOID the 12’ reminds everybody to have a safe and happy New Year’s, but find a sober, non drinking driver make sure you get home safely.

There have been no DUI fatalities in Santa Barbara County since the winter campaign began and we hope that is still true after this busy holiday weekend.

Additional information about the Avoid Program and operational plans from around the region can be found at www.californiaavoid.org.  Statistical data on the number of DUI arrests and DUI fatal crashes will be released from the previous day’s activities throughout the holiday weekend.

Funding for ‘AVOID the 12’ comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.