Holiday weekend: DUI arrests total 15

A DUI Enforcement Detail launched by Yuma Police over the July Fourth weekend resulted in 15 arrests for driving under the influence.
There were 61 traffic stops total, including three extreme-DUI arrests, according to Officer Clint Norred, spokesman for Yuma Police Department.
The DUI Enforcement Detail ran Friday through Sunday and involved heightened patrols, versus check points. Two full-time DUI officers were on duty at any given time, plus three additional officers scheduled specifically for the holiday weekend. The hours for those additional officers were funded through a grant Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
The average blood alcohol content (BAC) recorded during this year's detail was 1.32. Drivers arrested over the weekend weren't just under the influence of alcohol, however. Norred stressed that many DUI arrests are the result of people abusing or misusing illegal drugs or even prescription drugs.
Last year's July Fourth saw a BAC of .105 and netted 9 DUI arrests out of 73 total traffic stops, according to Norred.
The spokesman declined to compare numbers from the two years, stressing that the number of officers involved year to year can sometimes skew the numbers.
"It's a hard statistic," Norred said. "I think the education and awareness about impaired driving has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. I would say obviously the Arizona Legislature has taken an aggressive stance and has recognized that DUI is a serious offense."
Norred pointed out how fines and jail times related to DUIs have increased over recent years.
The Yuma County Sheriff's Office sent added enforcement to the Martinez Lake area over the holiday. Officials with the sheriff's office were not available to comment Monday on the number of DUI arrests seen at the lake over the weekend.

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Holiday DUI crackdown nets 25 arrests in West Valley

Police arrested 25 drunk drivers and handed out nearly 150 citations during a West Valley DUI crackdown at the beginning of the Fourth of July weekend.
Thirty officers hit West Valley streets from 7 p.m. last Friday night until 3 a.m. Saturday, with a concentration on Glendale. They arrested 16 drivers for misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence, one driver for aggravated DUI and eight drivers for extreme DUI.
All told, task force officers from the Glendale, Peoria, El Mirage and Tolleson police departments and the Arizona Department of Public Safety made 206 traffic stops and issued 148 citations, Glendale police Sgt. Jim Cunningham said.

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Woman faces 2 counts: attempted manslaughter

VERNAL — A woman is facing two counts of attempted manslaughter after police say she fired a gun at another vehicle while allegedly driving drunk.
Uintah County prosecutors have also filed two alternative charges of aggravated assault against Terri Lannette Gray, as well as misdemeanor counts of DUI and possession of a dangerous weapon while under the influence of alcohol.
According to court records, Gray was stopped by a Roosevelt police officer on June 16 after other motorists called dispatchers to report that she was driving recklessly on U.S. Highway 40. The officer said he detected an odor of alcohol on the Vernal woman's breath and said she told him she believed she was in Arizona.
Court records state that during the traffic stop two cars pulled up and the four individuals in those vehicles provided the officer with statements about Gray's driving. The witnesses told the officer they heard a loud bang as one of the cars passed Gray's vehicle. The car had an apparent bullet hole in its passenger side door, the officer said.
Gray allegedly failed field sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of DUI. During a search of her car, the officer said he found a .38-caliber revolver with four live rounds and one spent casing in the chamber.
The charges against Gray are not her first involving allegations of drunken driving or violent behavior. Law enforcement records indicate previous arrests for investigation of DUI, weapons offenses, simple assault and aggravated assault.
In December 2008, according to state court records, Gray pleaded guilty to threatening or using a dangerous weapon in a fight. She was given a suspended jail sentence of 30 days and fined $150.
Gray also pleaded guilty in May 2002 to driving with a measurable amount of a controlled substance in her body in exchange for the dismissal of a DUI charge. In that case she received a 90-day suspended jail sentence and a $500 fine.
Gray made her initial court appearance Wednesday on the attempted manslaughter charges. She is being held in the Uintah County Jail on $25,000 bond.

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