July 4th Weekend Friday DUI Arrests Up

The Fourth of July weekend Friday, July 1 DUI arrests are up this year in Santa Clara County compared to last year, according to the sheriff's office.

Officers from 15 law enforcement agencies in the county arrested 17 people on suspicion of DUI from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Friday, the sheriff's office said.

There were 12 DUI arrests during the same period last year. The numbers are provisional with some agencies yet to report, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Rick Sung.

No fatalities were reported in Santa Clara County on Friday of this year, as was the case in 2010, he said.

This year's arrests were a combination of local traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 DUI deployments.

Extra DUI saturation patrols will be deployed Saturday, July 2 in Milpitas, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Altos Hills and San Jose, the sheriff's office said.

The program is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Safety Administration.

Police, Sheriff and the CHP encourage all motorists to help make their community safer by reporting drunk drivers by calling 911. 

The campaign continues through midnight Monday, July 4.