Austin Police Make 119 DWI Arrests During New Year Holiday Period

AUSTIN, TX — The Austin Police Department made nearly 120 arrests over the New Year holiday period during a bolstered enforcement of drunk driving laws, officials said Wednesday.

In partnership with overtime grants provided by the Texas Department of Transportation and no-refusal funding through the City of Austin Transportation Department, police conducted a no-refusal DWI initiative from Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, through Sunday. The effort ran nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., police said.

Officers were empowered with an ability to enforce blood search warrants even from drivers who refused voluntary testing. Municipal judges essentially are on standby to receive bench warrants needed for police to draw blood from motorists unwilling to voluntarily submit to testing for intoxication.

Over the holiday period, the Austin Police Department made 119 DWI-related arrests, including:

• 35 consent breath samples.
• 25 consent blood samples.
• 59 blood search warrants.

Of those 119 arrests, 19 of the consent breath samples were over .15, 14 of the suspects had a prior DWI conviction and 12 of the suspects had two or more prior DWI convictions, according to a police advisory.

The DWI crackdown is ongoing, according to the police advisory, and will continue Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights throughout the month of January. "The Austin Police Department is dedicated to making all modes of travel safe for residents and visitors throughout our city," police wrote.