Bartender, drivers cited in DUI crackdown

Three drivers were cited in Green Valley and Sahuarita on Saturday as part of a county-wide crackdown on drunken driving this weekend. A bartender also was cited for drinking while serving alcohol.

Sheriff’s deputies and Sahuarita Police working a sobriety checkpoint at La Canada Drive and Duval Mine Road nabbed three DUI offenders in about two hours Saturday night, according to Sgt. Douglas Hanna, supervisor for the Sheriff’s DUI Unit. One man charged with extreme DUI (0.15 or above blood-alcohol content) was caught at the checkpoint, while two other drivers were stopped nearby by motorcycle officers.

Hanna also said several deputies were sent out to do spot-checks of local drinking establishments to make sure they were in compliance with state liquor laws.

Authorities cited a bartender at the Wet Spot, a bar inside the Green Valley Lanes bowling alley, for being under the influence of alcohol while serving liquor.

Lawrence Collins, 28, of Green Valley, had a blood-alcohol level of .127, according to deputies. A .08 blood-alcohol level or higher is considered under the influence, and Collins was “obviously intoxicated,” according to Sahuarita Police Sgt. Sam Almodova.

The bar area could not serve alcohol until another bartender arrived to take over, he said.

They also confiscated three bottles of liquor with dead insects inside them at the bowling alley.

By conducting these surprise spot checks at bars, “our aim is to show that we’re out there enforcing compliance,” Hanna said.

“We ask wait staff questions about their job and provide them with education about the laws,” he said. “And it shows patrons we’re keeping an eye out on their well-being too.”

Hanna also said special enforcement of seat belt usage would begin this week throughout the county, with the “Click it or Ticket” program.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 62 percent of the 687 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in Arizona in 2007 were not wearing seat belts.

jrichardson@gvnews.com | 547-9726