St. Patrick’s weekend DUI arrests in Arizona continue upward trend
Mar 19, 2019, 4:31 PM
(Getty Images Photo/Joe Raedle)
(Getty Images Photo/Joe Raedle)
PHOENIX – Drivers who overindulged on green beer and other libations kept law enforcement personnel busy over St. Patrick’s Day weekend.
Patrols statewide made 366 DUI arrests from Friday to Sunday, according to the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
While it was the highest total of the last three years, it was only a slight tick up from the 358 DUI arrests over the same weekend in 2018 and the 349 in 2017.
Those figures include all misdemeanor and aggravated DUI arrests.
The arrests for extreme DUI, where the driver’s blood alcohol content was above .15, also went up this year, reaching 99. That figure was 98 last year and 84 in 2017.
Additionally, DUI drug arrests continued an upward trend with 86 this year. There were 80 last year and 68 in 2017.
This year’s increases came even though there were fewer law enforcement personnel on patrol and fewer overall traffic stops during the weekend that in recent years.
There were 1,832 participating officers and deputies who made 8,984 traffic stops Friday through Sunday.
The statistics for those categories were 2,091 personnel and 9,806 stops last year and 1,934 and 9,814 in 2017.
