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Troopers, deputies and police officers participated in the extra enforcement campaign Nov. 27 through Dec. 31

Troopers, deputies and police officers made 2,079 driving while impaired (DWI) arrests during the holiday enforcement campaign Nov. 27 through Dec. 31. This campaign reinforces the importance of planning a sober ride, even if a person believes they’re fine to drive after drinking.

Each DWI arrest tells a story of reckless, irresponsible behavior that puts lives at risk. In St. Paul, one driver stopped by police said she thought she was OK to drive after having dinner with a friend. She had a 0.112 blood alcohol content (BAC). The legal limit is 0.08. In Minneapolis, a trooper arrested a driver who had three children in his vehicle. His BAC was 0.186. Two 911 callers helped Zumbrota police locate an impaired 27-year-old female driver. The woman had six prior DWI convictions.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) coordinated the campaign, which included extra enforcement, with funding provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“A 27-year-old with six DWIs, and a man driving impaired with three children in the car— these examples are disturbing and heartbreaking, but we know there were drivers who chose to do the right thing and drive safe and sober this holiday,” said OTS Director Mike Hanson. “To those sober drivers I say thank you; it really was a gift. For those who chose to drive impaired, we’re grateful to our law enforcement partners who are relentlessly protecting Minnesotans from those reckless decisions.”

Arrests and crashes highlight impaired driving dangers:

• A trooper responded to a call of wrong way driver on Interstate 35 in Duluth. He located the vehicle and arrested the driver for DWI with a 0.19 BAC.

• A Mounds View police officer pulled over a driver for swerving and expired tabs. The woman denied drinking any alcohol. The results proved otherwise. She was three times the legal limit with a 0.24 BAC.

• An impaired driver with 21 prior DWI convictions was taken off the road thanks to the efforts of a Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office deputy. After speeding in Brooklyn Center and eventually crashing in Minneapolis, the driver was arrested for felony DWI.

• White Bear Lake police stopped a driver for speeding and expired tabs. The driver was impaired and had an 8-month-old child in the vehicle.

• The Minnesota State Patrol in the Marshall district responded to a vehicle rollover crash. The impaired driver had his two children in the vehicle.

• A trooper responded to a two-vehicle rear-end crash in Maplewood. He determined one of the drivers was under the influence of alcohol. The trooper made an arrest after the driver tested 0.400 BAC.