Fresno County officials report uptick in DUI cases as holiday season approaches

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno County is seeing an increase in DUI cases and law enforcement leaders are bracing for more impaired driving as we head into the holidays.

"This is an epidemic. We're at the point now with DUI, the same place we are with fentanyl," said Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp.

Smittcamp was joined by other county leaders in law enforcement and a man who lost his entire family in a drunk driving crash.

"Be a good friend, if your friends want to party, stop them from driving and maybe someone doesn't have to live with what I'm living," said Juan Pulido.

Pulido's wife and four kids alond with two nieces and a nephew died on Highway 33 outside Coalinga on New Year's Day in 2021.

The California Highway Patrol said the drunk driver, who also died, was going about 100 miles per hour when he slammed into the Pulidos' truck.

"It's not an easy thing to wake up knowing you're not waking up to your family or coming home from work to your family. It hasn't been easy, I haven't been able to process it," said Pulido.

That tragic crash was one of thousands of DUI cases in Fresno County over the past few years.

In 2022, there were 4,162 DUI cases (both misdemeanors and felonies).

Last year, there were 5,157 cases.

So far this year, there have already been 3,798 DUIs in the county, with two months to go.

"If you have a conviction for DUI whether a felony or misdemeanor and you choose to do that again you can and will be prosecuted for murder should you engage in that behavior and someone is killed," said Smittcamp.

She urged people to say make a plan before you start drinking to have a designated sober driver or use a ride share app like Uber or Lyft.

"There's just no excuse. And to be frank, if you get arrested for DUI, you're lucky. Because you could end a life and then you'd have to live with that for the rest of yours," said Chief Mindy Casto of the Fresno Police Department.

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