Deadly DUIs

Keith Paul

Monday, May 22, 2000 | 11:32 a.m.

Metro Police have made 1,223 driving under the influence arrests so far this year, and those suspected drunken drivers have been involved in 389 accidents.

But most of the time, people hear about alcohol-related crashes only when they attract media attention, such as one this month that took the lives of three generations from one family.

In recent weeks, details of several multi-fatal DUI-related accidents have made the news in the Las Vegas Valley, leaving some to ask what the police are doing.

They're doing what they always do -- looking for drunks on the roads every single day. Periodically Metro and other local police include DUI checkpoints or saturation patrols, but cops say it's not a matter of doing something more.

"This is not turning out to be a really good year," said Detective Bill Redfairn of Metro's traffic unit. "There is enforcement every day of the week."

In fact, in the past year Metro has had a tool that helps cops deal with impaired drivers more efficiently.

The special van helps officers cut the amount of time they spend on testing, paperwork and transporting arrested drivers. Metro's $80,000 DUI truck can turn a three-hour process into one that takes just under an hour.

"It lets the officers get back on the road faster and catch more," Redfairn said.

The DUI truck has been on the streets for nearly 18 months and was paid for through a grant. It is outfitted with a Breathalyzer to do the necessary testing, a computer to do paperwork and space to haul the arrested driver to the jail -- freeing the patrol officers to get back to the streets, Redfairn said.

The DUI truck is used several times a month to assist officers and will be on the streets during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

In 1999 Metro officers made 2,964 DUI arrests, 1,036 of them involved in an accident. Of the 105 fatal crashes last year in Metro's jurisdiction, 35 percent involved drugs or alcohol.

So far this year there have been 1,223 DUI arrests in Metro's jurisdiction with at least eight DUI-related fatal accidents.

At that rate, this year could far outpace last year in DUIs.

If this isn't turning out to be a good year, then March was a bad month. Clark Morse, who had been arrested numerous times on DUI charges, was charged with rear-ending a car on March 16 while drunk and killing Lela Ann Jay and severely injuring Megabucks winner Cynthia Jay-Brennan.

Then three days later Nevada Highway Patrol troopers arrested Jessica Williams and charged her with running over and killing six teens who were picking up garbage in the median of Interstate 15. Police say she was under the influence of drugs.

Earlier this month Michael Pickett was charged with DUI after an accident on a Las Vegas street that killed James Hendren and Mary Lynn Sargent. Sargent's pregnant daughter died a day after the accident, but not before the baby was delivered by an emergency Caesarean section. The newborn boy died a few days later.

"We take enforcement (of DUI) very seriously. One crash wiped out an entire family. It's so sad," Redfairn said.

The roadways will be watched a little closer this weekend, given that it is Memorial Day weekend -- a holiday with a reputation for mixing drinking and driving as revelers head to the lake, parks or out of town.

The Multi Agency Traffic Squad -- a recent program that combines officers from Metro, Henderson Police and North Las Vegas Police and Nevada Highway Patrol troopers -- will be on the streets this week targeting aggressive and possible drunken drivers.

The highway patrol also got a federal grant to pay for four troopers to work 10 hours each day this Saturday and Sunday just to look for drunken drivers, said Trooper Alan Davidson, a highway patrol spokesman.

The recent DUI-related fatalities have been in the headlines and on the television news, making people more aware, but Davidson said troopers -- like Metro officers -- constantly are looking for drunken drivers and running special programs, such as the extra troopers on the road this holiday weekend.

The real way to stop drunken drivers, police say, is through education. People have to be persuaded to take a cab or get a ride home after drinking.

While some may think that a portion of the 35 million people who visit Las Vegas each year for vacation or for a conference are responsible for many of the DUI-related incidents, Redfairn said it's the locals who are responsible for most of the DUI arrests and wrecks.

"We do enforcement all days of the weeks at all hours of the day, and there are (DUI arrests and accidents) on all days of the week at all hours of the day," Redfairn said. "I don't know if there is one (particular) thing we can do to lower the numbers, but we'll always keep trying."

Keith Paul covers crime and public safety for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4057 or by e-mail at keith@lasvegassun.com.

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