Hundreds arrested for DUI New Year's weekend

MOSES LAKE - Washington State Patrol Troopers arrested 253 people suspected of being impaired by drugs or alcohol during the New Year's weekend.

The number is a few dozen fewer than the 286 troopers arrested for DUI in 2010, according to Washington State Patrol Captain Jason Berry. Of the people arrested in 2011, 32 were involved in DUI collisions, he added.

In Grant and Adams counties, 94 motorists were arrested for DUI during the course of a holiday enforcement campaign running Nov. 24 through Jan. 2, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Last year during the same time period officers in Adams and Grant counties on routine and extra patrols reportedly arrested 41 people for DUI.

"It is always the hope that the New Year starts with people driving safe and sober," stated State Patrol Chief John Batiste. "But, I am proud that our troopers are out ensuring impaired drivers are taken off the roads."

Three people were killed New Year's Day in a Lincoln County collision on state Route 2, including Benito M. Flores, 66, of Coulee Dam, and two individuals from Spokane, ages 19 and 20.

A Toyota Scion driven by 19-year-old Kacey McIntyre, Spokane, was traveling east when it reportedly crossed over the center line into the westbound lane, colliding head-on with a Subaru Impreza driven by Flores, according to Washington State Patrol Trooper Troy Briggs.

It has not been confirmed whether alcohol or drugs were a factor in the collision, as a toxicology report has not yet been issued, Briggs said Wednesday.  

The Moses Lake, Quincy and Warden police departments, the Adams and Grant County sheriffs' offices and the Washington State Patrol participated in the extra emphasis patrols, with the support of the Central Basin Traffic Safety Task Force.

The extra patrols were funded by a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.