Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have been tipped off by the police that the Newport Beach Police plan a DUI checkpoint from 7:30 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday on northbound Dover Drive at 16th Street in Newport Beach.

Screening will last a bit longer than Newport Beach’s typical six-hour checkpoints, but still isn’t expected to produce a large number of arrests, as the tactic is mainly employed to obtain federal and MADD funding, and DUI checkpoints have been proven ineffective.

The location is a common one for checkpoints in Newport Beach, along with the Newport Boulevard exit from the Balboa Peninsula and Jamboree Road near Santa Barbara Drive.

Newport Beach police also conduct regular “saturation patrols” where officers devoted to spotting drunk drivers are deployed across town, which is a tactic with a much higher rate of apprehending those driving drunk, according to the Orange County DUI Lawyers practicing in the area.

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers have learned that the Orange County Sheriffs Department arrested two drivers for driving on suspended licenses and cited 10 others for driving without their licenses while conducting a DUI checkpoint that was part of a statewide campaign funded by the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Almost 1,400 cars passed through the Laguna Niguel checkpoint between 8:30 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday, Deputy Wayne Howard said. Of those, 741 drivers were directed into primary screening and 27 drivers were directed to secondary screening.

Five drivers were given field sobriety tests, but none were found to be driving while impaired. Ten vehicles were towed. Two teen drivers were cited for driving in violation of their provisional driver’s licenses.

Since the campaign began Aug. 20, 188 drunken drivers have been arrested countywide. The campaign will continue until Sept. 6, with additional DUI checkpoints and roving saturation patrols planned for cities countywide. Patrols can consist of from one patrol car to 10 specifically targeting drunken drivers, Howard said.

Deputies also are targeting people who have not shown up on court warrants. They will be arrested at their homes and taken directly to court, Howard said.

The summer campaign is in its first of three years, and it’s the impound fees for unlicensed drivers, plus the matching funds from the Federal Government, that make checkpoints particularly profitable, even if they are not at all effective in removing drunken drivers from the street (roving patrols are much more effective).

“So they will be hit pretty hard,” Howard said. “It’s kind of an all-out blitz.”  Our Orange County DUI lawyers continue the good fight.  Call us anytime.

Our Newport Beach DUI Lawyers want to make sure you’re aware of where the DUI checkpoints are this weekend in Orange County.

From 7 tonight to 3 a.m. Saturday, a DUI/DL checkpoint will be up somewhere in Laguna Niguel.

During those same hours, DUI saturation patrols are scheduled in some of the bars and restaurants in La Habra.

The campaign has scheduled “DUI Taskforce Operations” from 2-3 a.m. Saturday in Buena Park, La Habra and Placentia, and saturation patrols during the same hours in Anaheim.

Finally, La Habra holds a DUI/DL Checkpoint from 7 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.  Our Orange County DUI lawyers want you to be safe this weekend, people.

NEWPORT BEACH – Police arrested five drunken drivers and one drunken passenger in a DUI checkpoint on Friday night.  The checkpoint was held near the Fashion Island shopping center on northbound Jamboree Road and Santa Barbara Drive from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. Police checked for drunken drivers and unlicensed drivers. Twelve drivers were cited for not having licenses and two marijuana citations were issued, said Sgt. Evan Sailor. More than 10 vehicles were towed.

What was interesting about this DUI checkpoint, from the standpoint of our Orange County DUI Lawyers, is that it was not announced.  The Ingersoll decision (and constitutional due process considerations), require notice to the public.  This might make this checkpoint lead to exclusion of evidence, which can mean dismissal for DUI defendants.

The Costa Mesa Police Department will be holding a DUI checkpoint on Friday, May 7, 2010, at Bristol and Bear streets, from 6pm to 2am.

Brought to you by the Orange County DUI lawyers of Miller and Associates.

DUI Sobriety & Drivers License Checkpoint

When: Friday, April 30, 2010 8 p.m. – 3 a.m.

Where: West Slauson Avenue between Buckler Avenue and Edgemar Avenue Los Angeles, California

Who:Emergency Operations Division

Contact: For any questions at all about Los Angeles DUI cases, call me at (877) 568-2977, toll free, anytime.

The Orange County Register had a story about the upcoming DUI Checkpoint in Newport Beach this weekend.  Our Orange County DUI Lawyers bring it to you for your weekend planning.

NEWPORT BEACH – Police will stage a sobriety checkpoint from 9 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday on northbound Dover Drive at 16th Street, a location bordered by several nightlife hotspots.

Cars passing the checkpoint will be chosen to move through screening lanes on a pre-determined basis designed to ensure the process is objective and random.

Arrests rarely climb into the double digits at checkpoints, which serve more as deterrents. Last month, a checkpoint staged at the entrance to the Balboa Peninsula resulted in six drunken-driving arrests, plus two more detentions for non-DUI-related offenses.

Related articles

• Marine gets 15 yrs to life in DUI killing (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Giant Squid? A Whale in Malibu? Local Ocean Wildlife Making Headlines this Week (laist.com)
• National Depression Screening Day – Orange County (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)

A DUI charge can trigger the following expenses, according to the Auto Club of Southern California:

Fine (minimum) $486

Penalties (minimum) $780

Vehicle Tow and Storage:  $187

Alcohol Education Class:  $500

Auto Insurance Increase (3 years): $8,652 average

Victim Restitution Fund $100

DMV License Re-issue fee:  $125

Booking, fingerprinting, photo:  $156

Attorney and legal fees (average):  $2,539

TOTAL (minimum) $13,500.00

Plus, and I can assure of this from 15 years of being a DUI Specialist in Orange County, it’s common for clients to go through all of the following:

Shame and humiliation;

Lost work time and wages

Medical costs (in some cases)

Vehicle Property Damage (in some cases)

Civil liability

Loss of a Driver’s License

Need for alternate transportation.

Take it from our Orange County DUI lawyers, drinking and driving is an expensive proposition.  Make sure you know your defenses before you decide to pay the price.

Related articles :

• Marine gets 15 yrs to life in DUI killing (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Free Tipsy Tows for the Overly Inebriated Tomorrow Night (laist.com)
• Bengals’ Maualuga pleads guilty to DUI (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Our Orange County DUI Lawyers get information from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department regarding upcoming DUI checkpoints and DUI patrols. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is planning a DUI roving patrol (which are teams of officers trained in DUI arrests, specifically looking for drunk drivers), for Friday, December 4, 2009.

The roving patrols for this date specifically are targeting the following cities:

Aliso Viejo;
Laguna Niguel;
Laguna Hills; and
Laguna Woods.

More information at this link, or you can always call me at 714-568-1560 for your Orange County DUI or Los Angeles DUI questions.

… or 6 arrests, depending on where you read the results.

Radio station KPCC’s website lists a story accounting for the DUI arrests as eight, and the Orange County Register’s story lists 6 arrests from the Newport Beach DUI Checkpoint  held on northbound Newport Boulevard at Finley Street from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. according to the OC Register, and ending at 12:30 a.m. according to KPCC.

Apparently there were onlysix DUI arrests, as the Newport Beach Polie Department explained -  “During the DUI checkpoint our officers arrested eight people, six for driving under the influence, one for an outstanding warrant and one for public drunkenness”

Officers also issued 20 traffic citations for various violations.  If you have any questions about Orange County DUI Checkpoint laws, ask me – I’m a DUI Specialist in Orange County.

Related articles

• DUI Checkpoint Tonight at Fairfax and Melrose (laist.com)
• Tawny Kitaen Arrested!! (perezhilton.com)