Cinco de clink-o: Arizona police report spike in Cinco de Mayo DUI arrests
May 8, 2017, 2:11 PM
PHOENIX — More people spent at least one night behind bars Cinco de Mayo weekend on a DUI charge than last year, officials said.
In a Monday press release, the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said 504 people were arrested on suspicion of DUI this year compared to 387 in 2016.
The office said 423 of those arrested were charged with misdemeanor DUI, 81 were charged with aggravated DUI and 130 were charged with an extreme DUI.
The average blood-alcohol content of those arrested was 0.151, up from 0.144 last year. In Arizona, the legal driving limit is .08.
There was also a spike in drug-related DUIs: 112 people were arrested this year, shy of double that of the 66 arrested in 2016.
Police also issued nearly double the amount of criminal speeding tickets — 216 — this year compared to last.
Nearly 2,200 law enforcement officers participated in this year’s DUI task force. More than 10,000 drivers were stopped over the Cinco de Mayo weekend.
