Sumner Arrests Five Drunk Drivers Within 24 Hours on New Year's Eve

Over the New Year’s holiday weekend, five people were arrested by Sumner Police for DUI.

In a typical month, six individuals were arrested for DUI in Sumner in 2011, on average. To have five DUI arrests within 24 hours is extremely rare.

Chief John Galle didn’t know what to make of the weekend trend. Even Alice Jacobsen, who has worked in records at Sumner PD for 17 years, was shocked.

“We did a ton of bar checks that night, and people were behaving themselves,” Galle said. “I was amazed at the amount of calls.”

Patch called Bonney Lake Police and they confirmed there was only one DUI call in town the holiday weekend and all was quiet. Across Pierce County, 562 people were arrested in a weekend campaign sponsored by several police agencies, including Bonney Lake and Sumner. Statewide, the Washington State Patrol arrested 253 drunk drivers. Of those arrested, 32 were involved in DUI-related crashes. Statewide, 3,812 suspected drunk drivers were arrested over the weekend.

Here’s a rundown of the DUI arrests from Sumner on Dec. 31, 2011:

• At 1 a.m., a police officer was running radar on the 4600 block of E. Valley Highway when a vehicle driving 10 miles over the speed limit passed by. The officer pulled over the 23 year-old driver, who had three other people in his car. He told police they had just left the Log Cabin, where they were drinking. He failed a field sobriety test and his BAC level was .17.
• Around 5 a.m., police responded to a collision at the Rivergrove Apartments. A resident there called and said they watched a woman hit a power pole and another vehicle in the parking lot. When police arrived, they located the suspect vehicle immediately. The female driver answered her apartment door and was extremely intoxicated and almost unintelligible while speaking to the officers. She admitted to hitting the pole and other vehicle but said she planned on telling her neighbor about it the next day. She is a home caregiver and was drinking vodka at the home of the man she nurses. They got in an argument so she decided to drive home. Her BAC was .233 when tested at the station.
• Police found a 21 year-old man urinating outside his car in the grass field near Jack in the Box at 10 p.m. He told officers he was driving from Renton to visit his uncle in town and was lost trying to find the fast food restaurant, which he didn’t realize was right in front of him. He blew a .087 BAC and was arrested for DUI and urinating in public.
• A half-hour later, police arrested a 31 year-old Buckley woman for DUI after an off-duty sheriff’s deputy noticed her weaving on SR 167 toward the SR 410 interchange. He estimated her speed at over 70 mph and pulled her over. She was driving with a suspended license and blew a .079 BAC.
• Officers responded to a call of a man who hit a parked vehicle on the 6601 block of 166th Ave. and fled the scene toward Bonney Lake. He was pulled over by BLPD after other drivers reported his erratic behavior on 181st Ave. and SR 410. The man was out of his car when Sumner PD responded, and tried to walk, lost his balance almost immediately and landed flat on his face. He was immediately cuffed and arrested for DUI. He admitted to drinking heavily in his car on his way home to Carbanado from Port Townsend. He said his father is dying and he was having a hard time dealing with it. He “just had enough” that day and drank the whole drive home. The man was transported to St. Elizabeth’s in Enumclaw and was treated for alcohol poisoning. He was charged with DUI and hit and run.