CHP makes eight DUI arrests at Goleta checkpoint

ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A sobriety checkpoint by the California Highway Patrol along a popular roadway to Isla Vista netted eight DUI arrests on Saturday, likely the most active evening of this year’s Halloween celebration.
Officers screened nearly 1,000 vehicles on the northbound lanes of Los Carneros Road between Raytheon Drive and Calle Koral, conducting nine field sobriety tests and towing four vehicles. CHP officials noted that no alcohol-related collisions occurred on Saturday evening.

“As a result of this checkpoint, eight intoxicated motorists were taken off the road before they had a chance to be involved in a collision which could have resulted in serious injuries to innocent motorists, themselves, or their passengers,” CHP Spokesman Don Clotworthy said.
One drunk driver who came through the checkpoint asked an officer for directions to northbound Highway 101, Clotworthy said. He explained that he had decided, along with his three intoxicated passengers, to drive back to Sacramento after failing to find a place to stay in Isla Vista.
CHP officers did note that many of the screened vehicles were being driven by designated drivers or parents picking up their kids, Clotworthy said. Numerous taxicabs carrying intoxicated partygoers passed through the checkpoint as well.
“We’re thankful for that,” he said. “Some people heeded the advice. Eight people did not, and they went to jail.”
Last year, officers held a similar checkpoint in the same location, Clotworthy said, screening 714 vehicles, conducting 15 field sobriety tests and arresting seven people for driving under the influence.