Crime & Safety

Troopers Arrest 161 Impaired Drivers Over Holiday Weekend

The Washington State Patrol arrested 161 drivers for possible DUIs over Christmas, which is down from last year's 194 arrests.

Washington State Patrol Troopers across the state arrested 161  drivers suspected of being impaired by drugs or alcohol  over the recent  Christmas holiday weekend.

That’s down from 194 arrests during the same period  in 2010 and does  not include arrests made by local sheriff’s deputies  or city police  officers.

“We’re going in the right direction, but these  numbers are still too  high,” said State Patrol Chief John Batiste.  “There’s just no  excuse for putting yourself and others at risk by  driving while  impaired.”

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The State Patrol is aware of three fatal collisions during the holiday weekend, one of which involved drugs or alcohol.

  • Drugs or alcohol are suspected in the death  of a 47-year-old Chehalis man on State Highway 2 near the Hewitt Avenue trestle in Snohomish County. Troopers believe an impaired driver went around barricades and drove onto a pedestrian walkway, killing one man and injuring another.
  • A nine-year old Clinton girl was killed when a tree fell on the vehicle in which she was riding. Troopers found no evidence of alcohol involvement in the collision, which occurred Sunday in Island County.
  • The Auburn Police Department is investigating a car-pedestrian fatality that occurred Monday morning on Auburn Way South.

There were no fatal collisions during the same period in 2010.

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Through Nov. 30, State Troopers had arrested 20,130 for suspicion of DUI for the  year. That is up about one percent from the same period in 2010, but falls within a normal range of year-to-year variance.


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