[UPDATED with Results:] Costa Mesa Locks in Another Mystery Stop for DUI Checkpoint Tonight

By Matt Coker Thu., Jun. 23 2011 at 8:15 AM

Categories: Main

UPDATE, JUNE 23, 8:15 A.M.: As a car approached last night's DUI checkpoint at Bristol Street and Randolph Avenue in Costa Mesa, a beer can flew out of a passenger window.

The driver was not only cited for allowing an open container in the vehicle, but a passenger was cited and also arrested for having an outstanding DUI warrant.

The final stats from Wednesday night's operation follow after the jump . . .

1,381 vehicles through the checkpoint.
713 vehicles screened.
5 drivers given field sobriety tests.
1 DUI suspect arrested.
2 warrants served.
30 driver license investigations.
18 citations issued.
10 vehicles towed.

His car keys are at the bottom of the cup.

ORIGINAL POST, JUNE 22, 12:12 P.M.: As my colleague Chasen pointed out, the Costa Mesa Police Department no longer discloses the location of DUI checkpoints, hoping to snare boozehounds who might be coherent enough to steer around previously announced stops.

Another thing the sneaky coppers are doing--at least before the layoff notices roll in--is holding the sobriety sweeps on random nights, to go along with those held during weekends of historically heavy saucing.

Take, for instance, tonight.

Yup, the force has announced they'll be stopping drivers in search of the drunk and unlicensed somewhere in Costa Mesa from 6 tonight to midnight.

The town's traffic division warns that summer months are the most dangerous on local roads when it comes to alcohol-involved collisions, a trend that is also played out statewide. Besides removing some of the menace, the operations are intended to enlighten everyone else about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The stop is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Such funds will also be used during the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends, when Costa Mesa cops vow to participate in local and countywide enforcement efforts aimed at taking drunks off roads.

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Dweezle.Di

Hmmm 1 DUI arrest, 5 suspects tested, 10 vehicles impounded... I am curious, how much money did the government spend? I cannot wait until the bill regulating poor person car seizure/and as a second thought DUI checkpoint becomes law.

FishWithoutBicycle

I completely agree with you. One lousy arrest and hundredsof 4th Amendment violations...was it worth the price? Whatever happened to "probable cause"? And you know darn well the cops didn’t question anyWASPs in beamers! Big government likes to use that “for the greater good”argument to justify steamrolling over our civil rights...

“They who can give upessential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither libertynor safety.” Ben Franklin

Thevoice88

Here's an update on that DUI Checkpoint in Costa Mesa tonight -- it's on Bristol Street south of Baker, under the 73 Toll Road Overpass. Going until midnight tonight. You can Google something like Orange County DUI Checkpoints and find several sites like www.bestocevents.com and www.ocduiblog.com that list good OC Checkpoint info.