Two men arrested for DUI during holiday weekend
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Two men were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol over the Labor Day Weekend.
Earl Lee Cook and Fred Johnson were each arrested in separate incidents by Greenville police and Butler County Sheriff's deputies, according to reports.
Johnson was arrested during a traffic checkpoint set up by the Butler County Sheriff's Office on Halso Mill Rd. during the weekend, said Chief Deputy Kenneth Hadley.
Hadley said sheriff's deputies stopped 185 automobiles at the checkpoint. On long holiday weekends officers typically make more arrests with additional drivers on the highways, some of which who ignore Alabama's DUI law.
“To only arrest one person for DUI is actually very good considering how many cars we stopped in a two hour period,” said Hadley.
Greenville police officers arrested one Cook on Saturday night during a routine traffic stop on Hicks St., according to reports.
The Department of Public Safety estimated that 13 people could die as the result of traffic crashes in Alabama during the 78-hour Labor Day holiday travel period beginning at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, and ending at midnight Monday, Sept. 4.
Last year nine traffic deaths occurred during the 78-hour period, eight on rural roads and one in an urban area. At least six - fully two-thirds - of these deaths were alcohol related, and six of the motor vehicle occupants who were killed were not using safety restraints.
Prior to the start of the holiday weekend, DPS Director Co. William Coppage promised a crackdown on drunken drivers. The DPS blitzed the public heavily with a television spot that showed intoxicated drivers drowning in alcohol during traffic stops by state troopers.
“Drunken drivers threaten the life and safety of every motorist with whom they share the roadways,” said Coppage. “Troopers will not tolerate this dangerous, illegal and irresponsible behavior, and will arrest all violators.”