May 2010 Archives

Memorial Day weekend is finally here, but for some people this day of honoring men and women who have sacrificed their lives while serving in the Armed Forces has become a day partying and excessive drinking. For this reason, AAA Arizona is offering a free towing service on Memorial Day so that the Grand Canyon state will see fewer drunk drivers on the roads.

The Tipsy Tow service will be available from 6:00 p.m. on Sunday May 30 to 6:00 a.m. on Monday May 31.  The White Mountain Independent states that if Arizona drivers call 1-800-AAA-HELP during these hours and request a "Tipsy Tow," they can receive a free ride home with a free vehicle tow of up to 10 miles. The program is open anybody, even if you're not an AAA member.

Did you know that there are over 20,000 people with outstanding DUI warrants in Maricopa County? That's right. There have literally been thousands of people in the area who have failed to complete the terms of their own arrest.

ABC News reports that the Department of Public Safety and the Phoenix Police Department are now trying to bring some of these more than 20,000 people into custody. They say that they're using all of their possible resources to carry out this operation. The two agencies will be sending police officers to track down the people with outstanding warrants by looking for individuals at their homes or at their workplace.

It's illegal to leave the scene of an accident, even if there's no other vehicle or pedestrian involved in a particular accident. Even simple property damage to the city constitutes as a reason that a person must stay at the scene.

ABC News reports that a driver is now facing criminal charges for DUI after his vehicle landed in the south Phoenix canal  last Friday. The driver reportedly abandoned his damaged vehicle in the canal near 65th Avenue and Buckeye Road and left the area completely. Police were eventually able to locate three people that were in the vehicle based on reports from witnesses.

It's always best to avoid drinking while driving, but Arizona drivers will especially want to take caution while driving drunk on Memorial Day. There will probably be lots of AZ DUI checkpoints during this upcoming holiday weekend. Memorial Day weekend is reportedly one of the most deadly holidays for motorists, but Valley officers are hoping to change this. The Arizona Republic reports that the West Valley DUI Force will be cracking down on impaired drivers with a checkpoint on Memorial Day that is scheduled to last for five hours.

On Monday May 31, the West Valley DUI Task Force will be holding a sobriety checkpoint at Castle Hot Springs Road at the Lake Pleasant entrance in Peoria. The checkpoint is scheduled to last from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The task force will also be having saturation patrols throughout the Valley, including officers patrolling the area of State Route 74.

The mother of Amar'e Stoudemire is bringing a little bit of drama to the Phoenix Suns while the team is trying to clinch a win for the NBA Western Conference Championships.

ESPN reports that Scottsdale police pulled over Carrie Mae Stoudemire on Tuesday for straddling two lanes while she was driving a Lincoln Navigator. The woman's driver's license states that she must be driving with an ignition interlock device in her vehicle until October 30, but her vehicle reportedly had no such ignition interlock.

The Glendale Police Department has more than 110 volunteers, many of which help out with the department's DUI Squad. The Arizona Republic reports that the volunteer work now is crucial with decreasing funds for the department. Last year, for example, volunteers contributed an estimated 22,500 hours, which is equivalent to about $450,000 worth of labor.

Joel Davis, 48, is just one of the volunteers with the Glendale Police Department who works with drunk driving enforcement officers. He reportedly does work with the DUI squad two nights a month and drives the DUI Squad's processing van for impaired suspects. He also performs additional support tasks.

Cinco De Mayo has traditionally been a day to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride. In Arizona, this holiday is one of the biggest drinking days of the year. This year, the state saw a large number of DUI arrests and a surprising large number of extreme DUI arrests.

Arizona DUI attorneys will probably be getting a large number of clients now that the Cinco De Mayo celebration is over. Associated Press reports that the Arizona DUI Task Force arrested more than 170 individuals for driving under the influence on the night of Cinco De Mayo. Nearly one third of the drivers arrested on suspicion of DUI were cited for extreme DUI.

Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin officially has his Scottsdale DUI trial set for July 7 and has an evidentiary hearing on scheduled for June 21. The hockey star could be facing serious legal trouble, since he was charged with an extreme DUI after a breathalyzer test revealed that he had a blood-alcohol level of .164 percent when he was pulled over by Scottsdale police officers.

Mr. Nikolai Khabibulin plays for the Edmonton hockey team, but the man actually owns a home in Paradise Valley. The Edmonton Journal reports that he was arrested not far from his home when driving a black Ferrari on February 8. Many Arizona DUI attorneys would argue that Mr. Nikolai Khabibulin is very unlucky to get a driving under the influence charge in the Grand Canyon state. This is because Arizona is known to have some of the harshest DUI laws in the country.

A senior at Corona Del Sol High School was killed by a drunk driver last week, which led to a great deal of outrage and sadness in the Tempe and Chandler communities. The Arizona Republic reports that the victim, Cody Bishop, was honored when the school choir sang songs in his memory.  Students at Corona Del Sol turned the tile mosaic Aztec mascot into a shrine, where people left flowers and hand-written notes.

The drunk driving crash occurred last Thursday near Ray and Rural roads. The suspect, 23-year-old Steven Landrum, was allegedly driving 81 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone when he hit Cody Bishop's van. After the crash, a blood test revealed that the suspect had a blood-alcohol level of .227, which is nearly three times the legal blood-alcohol limit of .08. The suspect suffered from only minor head injuries and was treated at the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI manslaughter upon release from the hospital.

What better way to teach high school students about the dangers of drunk driving than through an actual simulation of a DUI-related car accident? Throw this in with community officials and you've got a well crafted, educational event.

The students of Queen Creek High School recently got a little taste of reality when the town's fire department partnered with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to stage "Operation Prom." A Town of Queen Creek press release stated that "Operation Prom" was supposed to teach students about drunk driving accidents, just before their prom night.

A student at Arizona State University was critically injured in a car crash last Saturday and another passenger in the vehicle was killed. The Arizona Republic reports that police are saying alcohol was a factor in the collision.

The driver, 20-year-old Lisa Fitzpatrick, reportedly lost control of her vehicle at 3:00 a.m. and crashed into a road barricade on McClintock Drive near the Loop 202 freeway. Tempe police Sgt. Steve Carbajal said that the driver struck the construction barrier after failing to make a necessary turn. Lisa Fitzpatrick was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and was forced out of her vehicle. She was then taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, but died on Monday.

On certain nights there are 40 to 60 police officers in a particular West Valley city working for the West Valley DUI Task Force. The task force heavily cracks down on drunk drivers in the area, and as a result many people are arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence with such a large patrol.

The Arizona Republic reports that the West Valley DUI Task Force consists of officers from police departments in Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye, Peoria, El Mirage, Glendale, Phoenix, Tolleson, Surprise, as well as the Department of Public Safety and Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. The task force was formed in the mid-1990s with support from the Arizona Governor's Office of Highway Safety. The agency provides funding for training, equipment, and overtime pay for law enforcers.