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Published on 01/11/1999 All articles from this issue

Local DUI arrests down for '98 holiday season

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Almost half were baby-boomers

Arrests for driving under the influence dropped all over Santa Clara County during the 25th year of the Avoid the 13 holiday crackdown. Los Altos was no exception.

This year local officers snapped the cuffs onto 12 who were charged with DUI compared to 19 last year.

Officers are happy with the results and consider the overall program successful. "There are fewer drunks out there," said Sgt. Ron Vierra with the Los Altos Police Department.

"But the weather dictates so much," he said. Last year was wet and rainy and "that creates more crashes," Vierra said.

Of those 12 charged, three were women and nine were men. The ages were "all over the board, with a year of birth from '33 to '79.

"But five were baby boomers, almost half, who were in their mid to late 40s," Vierra said.

Of the 19 alcohol-related crashes in the county, one was in Los Altos. On Dec. 21, a 65-year-old Cupertino man hit a 67-year-old Los Altos woman. He was arrested for felony drunk driving.

And the only fatality and the first in several years, involved the tragic death of St. Francis High School student Justin Osborne of Sunnyvale. He died when the driver of the car in which he was riding lost control on Interstate 280. The driver, a 17-year-old San Jose youth, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving, officials said.

"Justin's death was the only tragic spot in this spectacular reduction," said Santa Clara Police Chief Charles Arolla, chairman of Avoid the 13.

"The public is finally getting the message about drinking and driving," he said.