Santa Barbara DUI Roundup: 23 Arrests in November

In November, officers from the Santa Barbara Police Department made 23 arrests for driving under the influence violations. Numerous arrests are made each month when concerned citizens call 9-1-1 after witnessing possible DUI drivers.

The SBPD would like to thank the responsible citizens who take the time to call and report suspected drunken drivers. The following is information on a few of last month’s cases.

» Nov. 1 at 8:11 p.m.: A 32-year-old man was involved in a hit-and-run collision when he collided with a parked car on the 1100 block of Quinientos Street. A witness observed that man exit his vehicle and flee on foot. The witness followed the man until an officer arrived and detained him. The officer immediately noticed that the man smelled strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet. The man denied driving or being in a collision, explaining that he was drunk and unlicensed and therefore could not legally drive. The officer noticed that the man had injuries consistent with having just been in a collision.

The officer completed a DUI investigation and determined that the man was too intoxicated to safely operate a motor vehicle. The man, who was positively identified as the hit-and-run driver by multiple witnesses, was placed under arrest for DUI. He chose to submit to a breath test, providing two samples that registered his BAC at 0.22 and 0.21. He was issued a citation for DUI, hit-and-run, and unlicensed driver and admitted into the Sobering Center.

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» Nov. 1 at 10:43 p.m.: A 34-year-old man was driving with inoperative brake lights in the area of Cacique Street and Alisos Street. An officer observed the violation and conducted a traffic stop. The officer contacted the man at his driver's side window and noticed that he displayed signs of intoxication. He also saw that the man had an 11-year-old boy riding in the front passenger seat of his car holding an infant on his lap. Additionally, there was a 16-year-old boy seated in the rear.

The officer had the man step out of the vehicle and noticed that he had slurred speech, smelled strongly of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet. The officer conducted a DUI investigation and the man was unable to complete field sobriety tests due to his level of intoxication. He was determined to be too intoxicated to safely drive and to have placed the three minor children in the vehicle in danger; he was arrested on charges of DUI and child endangerment. The man provided a blood test that registered his BAC at 0.27.

An inventory search of the vehicle prior to it being towed revealed a black backpack belonging to the 16-year-old. Located inside the backpack were three bindles of cocaine, a bottle of beer and a bottle of tequila. One additional bindle of cocaine was found in the 16-year-old boy’s pocket.

The driver was booked at the County Jail on charges of DUI and child endangerment with a bail amount of $100,000. The 16-year-old juvenile was found to have a BAC of 0.12 and was taken to Cottage Hospital to be medically cleared for booking. He was then booked at Juvenile Hall for child endangerment, possession of cocaine and minor in possession of alcohol. This case was forwarded to Child Welfare Services.

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» Nov. 3 at 6:52 p.m.: A 31-year-old woman was involved in a single-vehicle collision on the 2500 block of Treasure Drive when she collided with a curb, damaging the front of her vehicle and causing its airbags to deploy. Witnesses called 9-1-1 when they observed the woman leave her vehicle in the middle of the roadway and flee on foot. Officers arrived on scene and located the driver at her home near the collision scene. She admitted to driving the vehicle when the collision occurred and was positively identified as the driver by a witness.

One of the officers noticed that the woman appeared intoxicated, but she denied consuming any alcohol. The officer conducted a DUI investigation and determined that she was too intoxicated to safely operate a motor vehicle. She was arrested on charges of DUI, and she chose to submit to breath tests, which registered her BAC at 0.28 and 0.28. She was issued a citation for DUI and hit-and-run.

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» Nov. 8 at 5:46 p.m.: A 30-year-old woman was driving on the 1400 block of East Cabrillo Boulevard when she drifted off the roadway and collided with a tree. An officer arrived on scene and saw that several citizens had stopped to help the woman. The officer contacted the woman, who was being tended to by paramedics, and noticed that she smelled strongly of alcohol and was displaying signs of intoxication. She initially denied having consumed any alcohol, but later admitted to having three glasses of wine about one hour prior to driving.

The officer conducted a DUI investigation and determined that she was too intoxicated to safely operate a motor vehicle. She chose to submit to breath tests, which registered her BAC at 0.19 and 0.18. She was issued a citation for DUI and unlicensed driver and was admitted into the Sobering Center.

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» Nov. 9 at 3:15 p.m.: A 24-year-old woman was driving north on Castillo Street toward the Highway 101 northbound freeway entrance when she made an unsafe lane change and collided with a vehicle. She fled the scene, followed by the driver whose car she struck. The driver of the victim vehicle called 9-1-1 and updated SBPD dispatch with the woman's location.

Officers contacted the woman on the 300 block of West Valerio Street. One of the officers noticed that the woman smelled of alcohol and was displaying symptoms of intoxication. She admitted being involved in the collision and stated she had consumed two beers and one shot of schnapps prior to driving.

An officer conducted a DUI investigation and determined that the woman was too intoxicated to safely operate a motor vehicle. She was placed under arrest on a charge of DUI and provided two breath samples, which registered her BAC at 0.15 and 0.16. She was issued a citation for DUI and hit-and-run.

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» Nov. 10 at 12:10 a.m.: A 50-year-old man was involved in a collision when he struck two parked vehicles in the 800 block of Salsipuedes Street. The force of the impact broke an axle of his car; he exited his vehicle and fled on foot. Three independent witnesses observed the collision and gave chase to the man. One witness called 9-1-1 while pursuing the man and continually updated SBPD Dispatch of his direction of travel.

An officer located the man in the 800 block of East De la Guerra Street, and another officer responded to conduct the investigation in Spanish. The man denied driving, stating that just prior to the accident an acquaintance had jumped in his car, driven off with it and crashed. He said that following the collision the acquaintance fled on foot.

The man was positively identified by several witnesses as the driver and sole occupant of his vehicle at the time of the collision. An officer conducted a DUI investigation and determined that the man was too intoxicated to safely operate a motor vehicle. He was arrested on charges of DUI and chose to submit to breath tests, which registered his BAC at 0.18 and 0.18. Following his arrest, the man became uncooperative, prompting the officer to book him into the County Jail on charges of DUI, hit-and-run and driving on a suspended license.

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» Nov. 17 at 7:29 p.m.: A 57-year-old man was involved in a single-vehicle traffic collision at State Street and Calle Real when he collided with a chain-link fence. Several witnesses stated that prior to the collision they observed the man stopped at a red light at the intersection, passed out behind the wheel of his car. The witnesses knocked on the window to check on the man, who, upon waking, drove off and collided with the fence.

Officers arrived and contacted the man, who stated that he had only consumed one beer prior to driving. Officers noticed that the man was on probation for DUI and appeared to be very intoxicated. The officers conducted a DUI investigation and determined that the man was too intoxicated to safely operate a motor vehicle. He was placed under arrest on charges of DUI and he provided two breath samples, which registered his BAC at 0.29 and 0.29. He was booked into the County Jail.

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