Archive for August, 2008

On Duty Police Officer allegedly drunk driving

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

The Orange County Register reports the following:

STANTON – Officials at the District Attorney’s Office said they are still deciding whether to file charges against a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who is alleged to have run a red light and crashed into another vehicle, and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence while on duty.

Two months ago, three people were taken to nearby hospitals and an Anaheim man suffered life-threatening injuries in the early-morning crash, authorities said.

Authorities with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Deputy Robert Moran, who was on duty and driving a Chevrolet Blazer owned by the department, was headed to an Orange County location when the crash happened June 29.

Witnesses reported seeing Moran running a red light and crashing into another vehicle at Garden Grove Boulevard while driving southbound on Beach Boulevard, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Officials at the District Attorney’s Office have not yet made a decision on whether to file charges because they are still reviewing the case, said spokeswoman Farrah Emami.

When that decision would be made is unknown, Emami said.

An officer with the Garden Grove Police Department who responded to the scene noticed alcohol on Moran’s breath. Moran was later given a blood-alcohol test.

Deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigated the crash and submitted a report to the District Attorney’s Office, which will make the decision on whether to file charges against the Los Angeles deputy.

Moran posted bond after being booked June 29 and was given a court date of July 28. Because charges had not been filed by that time, the bond was returned to him, Emami said.

Moran was relieved of duty the day of the crash, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Archive for August, 2008

On Duty Police Officer allegedly drunk driving

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Welcome to the new look for OCduiblog.com.  I lost all my year’s worth of prior commentary, (thank you godaddy.com), but I’m starting fresh with a wordpress blog, just like the grown ups!  The Orange County Register had the following story this week about roving patrols, which I contend are more useful than DUI checkpoints:

Roving patrols target drunken drivers

O.C. cities participating in state-funded program that sends officers out looking for impaired drivers.

Several cities throughout the county are participating in state-funded roving DUI saturation patrols and driver’s license checkpoints from Friday, Aug. 29 to Sunday Aug. 31.

Sgt. Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Dept. said Anaheim, Garden Grove and Irvine are conducting checkpoints from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 29. Cypress, Fullerton and Santa Ana are conducting checkpoints from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 30.

Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Fountain Valley, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Orange Tustin, Westminster and the campus police at Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine are participating in saturation patrols from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. throughout the weekend.

Martinez said the patrols and checkpoints are part of the “Avoid the 28″ campaign, where units will be driving the streets looking solely for drunken drivers.

“It’s not concentrated on one area,” Martinez said of the roving patrols. “They can hit anywhere in the city and you have a higher visibility.”

Sgt. Dan Adams of the Orange Police Dept. said the DUI saturation patrols in Orange will specifically target the downtown area during the International Street Fair.

“There will be plenty of officers patrolling the streets around the street fair looking for those people who are driving while intoxicated,” Adams said.

According to program’s website, www.californiaavoid.org, 130 drunken drivers were arrested during the July 4th holiday weekend as a result of the program.

Archive for August, 2008

On Duty Police Officer allegedly drunk driving

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Welcome to the new and improved OCduiBlog.com.  I switched to a more flexible WordPress template, which is really the standard for bloggers in the community everywhere.  

Unfortunately, when I switched over from the horrible Godaddy Quickblog system I was using before, I had no choice but to lose all the prior entries – almost two years of news and work. 

Rather than retype everything by hand, since it was all old information anyway, I am starting fresh, with new content and a soon to be revamped look.  This site will continue to be the best resource for Orange County DUI Checkpoints, Orange County DUI related news, and news from the police agencies in Orange County and those critical of police tactics, MADD, and of the politics involved in DUI arrests and prosecution.

For any questions, you can always reach me at info[at]expertlawfirm.com.  Thanks. 

Robert Miller

ocduiblog.com