Bay City News
Police in Petaluma arrested two drivers and cited 11 others during a nine-hour DUI checkpoint operation Friday. The operation was split into two separate checkpoints, one at Sonoma Mountain Parkway and Castle Drive, the other at East Washington and Lakeville streets, police said.
At the first checkpoint, roughly 475 drivers were screened by officers, police said. Eight of the screened drivers were arrested - one for driving on a suspended license, and seven for driving without a license, according to police. No drivers were arrested for driving under the influence in the first checkpoint.
At the second checkpoint, officers screened 86 drivers for signs of DUI or license violations, police said. Police said five drivers were arrested. Two drivers - 28-year-old Allison Patrick, of Petaluma, and Connee Oneill, 55, of Petaluma - were arrested for driving under the influence.
Two drivers were arrested for driving on a suspended license; and one was arrested for driving without a license at the second checkpoint, police said.
Under a new law that goes into effect January 1, undocumented immigrants who are arrested for driving without a license will still be cited, but may no longer be placed on an ICE hold in county jail and then turned over to federal immigration authorities, unless the person has been convicted of a serious crime.
An investigation by Petaluma Patch in 2011 found that more than 50 percent of people deported from Sonoma County were never convicted of a crime.
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