DUI Checkpoint Scheduled In Lake Elsinore

The Lake Elsinore Police Department Traffic Unit will be conducting a DUI/driver's license checkpoint on Friday, Jan. 17, with officers looking for impaired drivers. 

"Officers will be contacting drivers passing through the checkpoint for signs of alcohol and/or drug impairment. Officers will also check for proper licensing and will strive to delay motorists only momentarily. Drivers caught driving impaired can expect jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, other expenses that can exceed $10,000," a news release from sheriff's Sgt. Peter Giannakakos read.

"In the past 12 months, the Lake Elsinore Police Department investigated 38 DUI collisions in which 55 persons were injured. Additionally during this time, the Lake Elsinore Police Department made over 202 DUI arrests," the release continued.

Funding for the checkpoint is provided to the Lake Elsinore Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

News of the checkpoint comes on the same day that a Perris man is expected to be sentenced to 10 years for causing a crash while driving drunk that led to the death of another local resident. The drunk driver was convicted on a manslaughter charge, as well as a child endangerment charge. At the time of the crash, the defendant was driving impaired while his young son was in the vehicle with him. Click here for the full story.