Police Arrest 91 in First Week of Drunk Driving Crackdown

Authorities in Sonoma County are cracking down on drunken driving during a countywide DUI task force operation that runs through the unofficial end of summer and has netted 91 arrests in its first week.

The 18-day Avoid the 13 campaign, called the Summer Mobilization Period, began Aug. 19 and will be in effect through Labor Day weekend.

As Saturday morning, 91 people have been arrested. Of these arrests, there have been 81 DUI arrests, seven DUI probation arrests and three DUI warrant arrests, according to the Petaluma Police Department, which serves as the task force's lead agency.

Task force officers arrested four drivers on suspicion of DUI between Friday night and early Saturday morning, including one driver who led Santa Rosa police officers on a high-speed pursuit just after midnight.

There have been no alcohol-involved fatal collisions reported throughout the county during the enforcement period, and a single alcohol-involved injury collision occurred Sunday, police said.

On Friday night, officers focused on DUI offenders currently on probation by conducting compliance checks and searches of repeat DUI offenders -- those who have three or more prior DUI convictions.

Of 71 attempted probation searches, seven resulted in arrests of repeat offenders who allegedly violated the terms of their probation by possessing alcohol, being under the influence of alcohol, or possessing prohibited weapons, police said.

Four people were arrested after being contacted at their Petaluma homes, including Keith Harris, 48, Pauline Klepaldo, 59, Alvaro Carreno, 27, and Anthony Fires, 28.

Harris was arrested after Avoid the 13 officers allegedly found him in possession of drug paraphernalia. Harris has five prior DUI convictions from 1991 through 2009.

Klepaldo, Carreno and Fires all have at least three prior DUI convictions and were not to use or possess alcohol according to the terms of their probations, police said.

Klepaldo was arrested and released with a citation after a breath test allegedly showed her blood alcohol level was 0.04 percent. Carreno was arrested and booked at Sonoma County Jail after allegedly demonstrating a blood alcohol level of 0.17 percent, police said.

Police said that Fires greeted officers in his driveway while holding an alcoholic beverage. He was also forbidden from possessing firearms. He was arrested and booked into Sonoma County jail after authorities allegedly found four handguns and ammunition while conducting a probation search.

Three additional arrests were made outside of Petaluma, although details about those arrests were not immediately available. Gilberto Rodriguez, 43, of Rohnert Park, after a Santa Rosa police officer observed him allegedly run a stop sign.

The pursuit lasted 10 to 15 minutes and reached speeds of 100 mph on southbound U.S. Highway 101, police said. Rodriguez, who has two prior DUI convictions, was taken into custody without incident after he pulled his black SUV onto a shoulder at the Rohnert Park Expressway off-ramp. He was booked into Sonoma County Jail with bail set at $55,000.

A Santa Rosa man, Lance South, 53, was arrested when another Santa Rosa police officer spotted the man's car outside a local bar. South, who was on active probation, was prohibited from entering bars or liquor stores, and he was booked at county jail.

In addition to Petaluma and Santa Rosa police, Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Sonoma, and Windsor police are participating in the campaign. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, the county probation department, Sonoma State University police and Santa Rosa Junior College police are also involved.

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