Busted!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

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The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office runs a DUI checkpoint, netting many drivers who shouldn't be on the road.

By Joe Wisinski
BayNews9.com executive producer

The young man is just 16 years old. A high school sophomore.

But he's about to get into serious trouble.

Deputy Matt Ingoglia conducts a field sobriety test on a DUI suspect.

The teen, along with a male and two female friends, had traveled from Pasco County to Pinellas County Friday evening for a hotel party on Ulmerton Road.

When the party didn't pan out - sheriff's deputies broke it up - the quartet headed for Sand Key.

They're westbound on Ulmerton Road and approaching U.S. 19 when a Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy directs them off the road and into a DUI checkpoint area.

As deputies talk to the driver and run a routine check on his driver's license, one spots liquor bottles in the car - more than a dozen, some of them open. And a cold keg in the trunk.

The teen says he bought the booze with his 21-year-old brother's ID and admits to drinking "three beers . . . or so."

Contact the Reporter
	Click here to e-mail BayNews9.com executive producer Joe Wisinski.

During breath tests on the Intoxilyzer 8000, the young man blows a .059 and .057, almost three times the .02 limit for underage drivers.

Deputies charge him with DUI.

"That's what is out there driving around," Deputy Matt Ingoglia says.

A critically needed operation

On average, about one person a week dies in an alcohol-related accident in Pinellas County. Another 23 are injured.

In 2004, more than 1,600 alcohol-related crashes occurred in the county. Forty-eight people died and another 1,193 suffered injuries.

The sheriff's office says the goal of a DUI checkpoint such as the one that netted the 16-year-old is to reduce injuries and save lives.

Click on the image for another photo of the bottles deputies found in a car driven by a 16-year-old.

Deputies run a DUI checkpoint about every two months.This one took place May 13 from 12:30 to 3:30 a.m. near the intersection of U.S. 19 and Ulmerton Road.

Earlier that evening, deputies ran a similar detail from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. near the intersection of 54th Avenue North and 78th Street in St. Petersburg.

More than 30 deputies - all on regular time, not overtime - participated in the detail.

Although the checkpoint is primarily an anti-DUI measure, deputies also check for other violations, such as not wearing a seatbelt. Not wearing a seatbelt is not a primary offense in Florida, but Ingoglia explains deputies can ticket non-seatbelted drivers because they had already stopped them for another reason, the DUI checkpoint.

How it works

Standing on Ulmerton Road, a deputy directs every third westbound car into the checkpoint. No exceptions.

"If the third car is a patrol car, it gets diverted in," Pinellas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Bordner said. "If the third car is the sheriff, he gets diverted in."

A deputy runs each driver's license through his in-car laptop computer, checking for such violations as an expired license or lack of car insurance.

Meanwhile, another deputy asks the driver a few questions.

"Where are you heading this morning?" "Have you been drinking?"

Frequently the deputies engage drivers in casual conversation and observe the driver's behavior, which helps determine if he or she may be under the influence. They also watch the driver's eyes.

"The eyes tell you a lot," Ingoglia says.

Sobriety Checkpoint Program
	Click here for page one of the Sobriety Checkpoint Program pamphlet. Click here for page two.

If the deputy is satisfied the driver is not under the influence, he or she gets a friendly "thank you" and a pamphlet explaining what the DUI operation is about.

But if a driver's behavior is suspicious, the deputies ask him or her to take a field sobriety test (FST).

The deputies ask anyone who performs poorly on the FST to take a breath test. Those who fail are arrested and held in a transport vehicle until taken to the Pinellas County Jail.

On this night, more than 1,200 vehicles pass through the two checkpoints, with 353 diverted for assessment. (Less than one in three were diverted during the first checkpoint.) The average time non-impaired drivers spent with deputies was 1:33.

The detail nets 17 arrests on 25 charges, including 10 for DUI.

More Information
	Click here to see a breakdown of the night's arrests. Click here for a map of the DUI checkpoint area. Click here to read how Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) assisted the deputies. Click here to read about what happened to drivers who failed to stop for the checkpoint when directed to.

Additionally, deputies issue 33 traffic citations and impound 11 vehicles.

Giving thanks - or not

What do drivers think about getting stopped?

"Quite a few say thank you," Ingoglia said. "Most people are pretty good. They say, 'Thank you for being out here. I appreciate it.' "

Not everyone is as gracious. One driver protests when deputies note he's not wearing a seatbelt. He says he never has.

"I'm 44 years old," he says. "I'm not ever going to wear one."

That reasoning doesn't fly with the deputies. They issue him a $73 ticket, and make him put his seatbelt on before he drives off.

It's safe to say four young people in another car didn't end their encounter with a "thank you" either. Three people in the car had been drinking legally - they were over 21. The fourth, desiring to serve as the designated driver, had not been drinking. The only snag? He was driving on a suspended license.

"At least he tried to do the right thing," Ingoglia says.

One enterprising driver thought he'd perhaps make some money from the checkpoint.

"Does anyone want to buy a car?" he asks the deputies.

He says he owns a car dealership and tries to hand the deputies his business card. There are no takers.

Serious trouble indeed

As for the 16-year-old, this is not the first time he broke the law.

"How many times did you drink before today?" a deputy asks him.

"A lot."

If convicted of DUI, he could serve up to 60 days, as well as lose his driver's license for up to a year.

Click on the graphic for a larger photo of the Intoxilyzer 8000, used to measure blood-alcohol levels.

He's had his license for six weeks.

Not surprisingly, the teen wonders what will happen to him.

"Do I just wait until my parents get here?"

"No," a deputy replies. "You'll be going to juvenile detention."

Deputies will take him to JARF, the Juvenile Addiction Receiving Facility. He'll stay there for a while. He can't leave until his blood-alcohol content drops below .02.

"Was it worth it?" Ingoglia asks him.

In the understatement of the year, the young man replies, "Probably not."