DUI arrests on the rise in Fresno County over Memorial Day weekend

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The California Highway Patrol is trying to prevent tragedies on the road by continuing its maximum enforcement period on Monday.

On Sunday, a car smashed through a Selma home, leaving one person dead and neighbors rattled.

"The house shook. My son actually said the lights were flashing on our vehicle. So, I grabbed the keys, and I thought it was just the alarm and then I came out the door and seen my car totaled and flipped around," said Joseph Barella.

The CHP says two people were ejected from the car and taken to a nearby hospital with major injuries--the driver later died.

Officers said it's unknown if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.

But other crashes across the Valley over the weekend were blamed on DUI drivers, including one in Visalia that knocked out power to hundreds of homes and sent multiple people to the hospital.

To prevent more injuries and deaths, the CHP has been out looking for traffic violations.

The agency implemented its maximum enforcement period Friday night through Monday Night.

"The guys were just call, to call, to call. It's a holiday weekend. We want people to have fun - the reality is it's our job to make sure we are doing it safely," CHP Sgt. Ryan Pederson said.

460 citations were given out, 61 for failure to wear a seat belt, and 260 were speeding violations with 20 of them going over 100 miles per hour.

Officers paid close attention to people who were suspected of driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

They've made at least 39 DUI arrests so far over the holiday weekend, compared to 17 this time last year.

"If you don't have a plan before drinking, generally, you are making decisions when your thought processes are compromised," Sgt. Pederson said. "Nobody leaves a party after drinking thinking they are going to get in a crash, everybody thinks I can do this and we see the tragic consequences all too often and we just want to curtail the best we can."

The CHP's Memorial Day Maximum Enforcement weekend also coincides with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's ongoing Click It or Ticket campaign, which continues through this upcoming Sunday.

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