DUI checkpoint
Police will be setting up a DUI and driver’s license checkpoint at an undisclosed location in Redondo Beach on Friday between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.
“Research shows that crashes involving alcohol drop by an average of 20 percent when well-publicized checkpoints are conducted often enough,” a media statement issued by the Redondo Beach Police Department reads.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, checkpoints have provided the most effective documented results of any of the DUI enforcement strategies, while also yielding considerable cost savings of $6 for every $1 spent.
“DUI checkpoints have been an essential part of the phenomenal reduction in DUI deaths that we witnessed since 2006 in California,” Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the Office of Traffic Safety, said.
“But since the tragedy of DUI accounts for nearly one third of traffic fatalities, Redondo Beach needs the high visibility enforcement and public awareness that checkpoints provide.”
Over the past three years, according to Sgt. Chuck Prestia, DUI collisions have claimed one life and resulted in 84 injuries, harming a total of 106 people in Redondo Beach.
Persons caught driving under the influence could face jail, license suspension, and insurance increases, as well as fines, fees, DUI classes, and other expenses that can total over $10,000.
Funding for this checkpoint is provided to the Redondo Beach Police Department by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
If you suspect a driver of being under the influence, call 911.
Police blotter: Feb. 28 to March 6
A woman was reportedly assaulted and robbed Friday night in the Albertsons parking lot at the intersection of N. PCH and Catalina Ave.
The woman filed a police report in which she stated she was forced to the ground and robbed of the money she was carrying at around 10:40 p.m. She had been walking to her car. No suspects have been identified in connection with the incident.
Police received a report Monday, March 4, at around 7:50 a.m. from a hotel on the 400 block of North Harbor Drive that a suspect had used a fraudulent credit card to check into a room and steal an LG flat-screen television. Police have so far identified four suspects in the commercial burglary.
Another burglary occurred on the 1800 block of Hawthorne Blvd. on Wednesday. A suspect entered a business, selected merchandise and in the fitting room cut off its security sensors. Fortunately for the business owner, all items were recovered and the suspect was arrested.
Several residential burglaries were reported to police between Feb. 28 and March 6. On Friday, a home on the 100 block of Beryl St. was burgled of jewelry. The day previous, a home on Van Horne Ln. was broken into, but no items were lost.
Wednesday, a home on the 700 block of Ave. C was broken into via an open ground-level window, but losses are unknown to police at this point.
A 2004 Toyota Corolla parked on the 2500 block of Gates was burgled on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning of last week. The suspect smashed a passenger window and stole a GPS device, power converter, phone charger, cassette to compact disc converter, briefcase, laptop, calculator, and an electronic lock box key.
Three vehicles were reported stolen between Feb. 28 and March 6, and of those, one has been recovered.
On Sunday afternoon, a black 2012 Kawasaki Ninja CXCR motorcycle was stolen from the 1500 block of the Esplanade. A white 1997 Nissan Maxima was stolen from the 2000 block of Vanderbilt Ln. between Monday and Friday, and a gray 2012 Chrysler 200 was stolen from South Elena last week but recovered on Feb. 23.
Police also recovered, on March 1, a 2011 Dodge Durango that was reported stolen on Feb. 17.
