18 Arrested on suspicion of DUI at checkpoint

SANTEE (CNS) – Law enforcement officers arrested 18 suspected drunken drivers and five other scofflaws at separate overnight checkpoints in Santee, Oceanside and Imperial Beach.

Nine of the drunken driving arrests and all five for other reasons occurred between 8 p.m. Friday and 2:30 a.m. at a checkpoint in the 9000 block of Mission Gorge Road in Santee, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Hill. Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers also cited seven drivers with suspended licenses and another 10 of the 1,928 drivers who passed through the checkpoint for various vehicle code violations, he said.

Oceanside police officers manning a checkpoint at Oceanside Boulevard and Camelot Street arrested six suspected drunken drivers between 9:35 p.m. Friday and 2:30 a.m., Oceanside police Sgt. Ignacio Lopez said.

They also cited 20 unlicensed drivers, six with suspended licenses and six for other reasons, according to Lopez.

In Imperial Beach, sheriff’s deputies busted three suspected drunken drivers in the vicinity of Palm Avenue and Ninth Street between 8 p.m. Friday and 2:45 a.m., sheriff’s Sgt. Laura D. Spang said.