Phoenix officers responded to series of traffic accidents

Phoenix Police officers and vehicle crimes investigators were busy this weekend with a series of fatal traffic accidents on Saturday and Sunday.

"This was just a horrendous night for collisions," Hill said. "At night it's just paramount to be careful and know you may not be seen."

Hill also said that drivers should not get behind the wheel if they are impaired, adding that anyone who sees an impaired person attempt to drive should stop them.• The first incident reported was around 7 p.m. on Saturday, when a man jumped in front of a Valley Metro bus from the sidewalk. The man, who was not identified, was in critical condition on Saturday. His status on Sunday was not known, said police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill.


• Around 7:25 p.m. on Saturday, 46-year-old Christopher Emigh was struck and killed as he crossed Indian School midblock near 28th Street on his wheelchair.

Brandon Lee, 27, was driving an Impala and struck Emigh. Emigh was thrown from his wheelchair onto a light pole.

Police believe a second car struck Emigh, but that car has not been located. Police have not determined whether the driver of that car knew they had struck Emigh, or simply fled.

Lee fled but was followed by several witnesses who called police. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI and leaving the scene of an accident after a short foot pursuit near 32nd Street and Osborn Road.


• Two hours later,a man driving a Dodge passenger car failed to stop at a red light near 67th Avenue and Indian School Road, striking a man on his motorcycle. The victim was killed. The man in the Dodge was arrested for DUI drugs. Neither of the men has been identified.


• Within a few hours, at 12:50 a.m. on Sunday, a man who was crossing Thomas Road near 43rd Avenue with two other men was struck by a two-passenger car. The man, who was not identified, was killed. A 29-year-old man believed to have struck him was arrested on suspicion for DUI, police said.


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Countywide DUI arrests down; North County up slightly

COAST CITIES — A total of 21 people were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on North County-area freeways and rural roads over the Fourth of July weekend, three more than last year, a Highway Patrol spokesperson said July 6.

Despite the slight rise in DUI arrests by the California Highway Patrol in the North County, there were no traffic fatalities on CHP-monitored roadways during the holiday weekend throughout the San Diego-area, Officer Eric Newbury said.

Countywide, the CHP made 88 DUI arrests, 66 fewer than last year, according to the Highway Patrol.

In addition to the Highway Patrol’s maximum enforcement period, which ran from 6 p.m. July 3 through midnight July 5 and assigned 80 percent of its available officers to local regions freeways and unincorporated roads, North County law enforcement agencies also staffed extra DUI patrols for the Fourth of July weekend.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department arrested 13 people suspected of driving under the influence, according to crime analysts at the Sheriff’s Department. Deputies in Encinitas, San Marcos and Vista each recorded four DUI arrests over the holiday weekend, while sheriff’s deputies in Solana Beach made one arrest of an impaired bicyclist.

Across town, the Carlsbad Police Department made one DUI arrest over the Fourth of July weekend, said Lynn Diamond, a spokeswoman for the department.

And while the holiday DUI numbers weren’t immediately available from the Oceanside Police Department, Sgt. Kelan Poorman noted a traffic accident that alcohol is believed to have played a factor in.

Poorman said a 30-year-old male sustained life-threatening injuries and was life-flighted to a local hospital after being ejected from his vehicle while traveling at a high rate of speed around 3:25 p.m. July 4 just north of the intersection at Lake Boulevard and Evening Canyon.

The man’s identity and condition have not been released by authorities at this time.

Statewide, the CHP recorded 1,239 DUI arrests and 16 fatal traffic accidents this holiday weekend.


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Arrests for drunken driving up statewide on holiday weekend

On the second day of the three-day weekend, 12 people lost their lives in California holiday traffic, the California Highway Patrol reported.

In statistics from 6 p.m. Friday through 6 a.m. Sunday, CHP officers had arrested 1,033 drivers for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The arrests were up from 971 for the second day of the July 4 weekend last year.
Of those who were killed on the road, at least eight had not been wearing a seat belt. One was a motorcyclist.
Statewide statistics for Sunday were not yet compiled.
In Santa Clara County, 68 people were arrested for driving under the influence, in the 48 hours from 12:01 a.m. Friday through midnight Saturday. They were arrested by officers from 13 law-enforcement agencies in the county.
On Sunday, local police deployed extra traffic patrols in Mountain View, Los Altos, San Jose, Cupertino, Saratoga, and Los Altos Hills, as well as on highways patrolled by the CHP.

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