 Jeri Williams Chief of Police |
Oxnard Police Department
R. Jason Benites Scott Whitney |
OXNARD POLICE DEPARTMENT
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release December 20, 2013
Sergeant Brian Woolley, Oxnard Police, 805-385-7847, brian.woolley@oxnardpd.org
Senior Officer Maria Peña, Oxnard Police, 805-385-7750, maria.pena@oxnardpd.org
Winter Holiday AVOID DUI campaign – FRIDAY update 4
DUI Arrests Up & NO DUI Fatalities
The Winter Holiday Anti-DUI crackdown has resulted in a significant number of DUI arrests from local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 14 DUI deployments during the past several days in Ventura County.
From 12:01 AM Friday, December 13, 2013 through Midnight Thursday, December 19, 2013, officers representing Ventura county law enforcement agencies have arrested 71 individuals for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In 2012, 51 DUI arrests occurred during the same seven (7) day time period.
Last year, there were no DUI deaths reported. There were no DUI deaths overnight, but there was a fatal traffic collision in the City of Oxnard.
On December 19, 2013, at about 6:12 P.M., officers from the Oxnard Police Department and EMS personnel responded to intersection of C Street and Magnolia Avenue reference an injury traffic collision involving a blue Dodge Caravan and a pedestrian.
Preliminary investigation indicates that the Dodge van, driven by Nicolas Montanez, was traveling southbound on C Street from Magnolia Avenue. Prior to the collision, Pedestrian Juan Rivas was standing at the west curb of C Street just south of Magnolia Avenue. For an unknown reason, Pedestrian Rivas entered the roadway and walked into the path of the Dodge and was struck. Pedestrian Rivas was transported from the scene to the Ventura County Medical Center where he later died as a result of the injuries he sustained.
Driver Montanez and the three passengers in the Dodge van were uninjured during the collision.
Diver Montanez was evaluated and showed no signs or driving while impaired. In addition, excessive speed does not appear to be a factor.
(**NOTE: These numbers are only provisional with some agencies yet to report**)
For the second weekend of the campaign a DUI Checkpoint will be conducted in the City of Ventura, extra local DUI Saturation Patrols will be deployed in the cities of Moorpark, Camarillo, Port Hueneme, and Simi Valley. A Multi-Agency DUI Task Force is deploying in the City of Thousand Oaks.
All regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will focus efforts at stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their normal shifts. Multiple DUI/Driver’s License Checkpoints, Multi Agency DUI Task Force operations and local Roving DUI patrols are all part of this region-wide crackdown during the 20 day Winter Holiday Campaign.
Police, Sheriff and the CHP encourage all motorists to help make your community safer: Report Drunk Drivers – Call 911! Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. DUI arrest data collection will continue through New Year’s Weekend, midnight Sunday, January 1, 2014.