Two Drivers Arrested at Hwy. 101 DUI Checkpoint

While sheriff’s deputies and agents from Alcohol Beverage Control were cracking down on public drunkenness in Encinitas Saturday night, another group of deputies was stopping drivers at a DUI/driver’s license checkpoint on S. Coast Highway 101 just north of Encinitas Boulevard.

Two drivers were arrested for suspicion of DUI at the checkpoint, which operated from 8 p.m. until 2:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of S. Coast Highway 101, according to Deputy Brenda Sipley.

All 585 vehicles that rolled through the checkpoint were screened by deputies checking driver’s licenses and searching for signs of impairment. Deputies directed 29 vehicles to a secondary-inspection area, where eight field-sobriety tests were given, according to Sipley.

In addition to the two DUI arrests, 14 citations were issues for various violations and seven vehicles were towed from the checkpoint, which was funded by a grant from the Office of Traffic Safety though the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.