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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 10, 2006 Drunk driving numbers climb in Medford By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune From a belligerent father picking up his 5-year-old daughter at the Medford YMCA Friday to a young man involved in two accidents on Barnett Road just minutes apart Sunday morning, four intoxicated drivers — all of them with blood-alcohol levels well above the legal limit — were arrested by Medford police last weekend. And the weekend wasn't an anomaly, just the latest round in what police see as a disturbing trend. "Over the last year, we are seeing more DUIIs and some very high blood-alcohol contents," Medford police Lt. Mike Moran said. "This is starting to be less unusual." Statewide, arrests on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants dropped 2.8 percent from 25,223 arrests in 2001 to 24,525 arrests in 2004, the most recent data compiled by the Oregon Department of Transportation shows. Medford also had seen a decline. The city's 2001 data aren't easily accessible because of a computer system change, but in 2002 the force made 543 DUII arrests. That number dipped to 448 in 2003 and 395 in 2004. The results seemed promising, even though officials weren't sure whether past aggressive enforcement efforts were paying off or whether patrol officers were simply too busy with other cases to spend much time watching for impaired drivers, Moran said. Last year, however, the number of DUII arrests bounced back up to 466, Moran said. The department didn't add patrol officers, although it has continued to train officers to recognize impaired drivers. "We're on track for a lot more this year," he said. "There are more out there." During the first quarter of the year, police made 144 DUII arrests, up from 104 arrests during the first quarter of 2005. "We've done tons of education and enforcement, and there still seems to be a problem," Moran said. While blood-alcohol levels of people charged with DUIIs aren't tracked, Moran has seen the levels rising on the reports that cross his desk, including the incidents from the past weekend. "At .08 a driver is impaired," he said. "The public has made it clear through tough laws that they don't tolerate this." A 39-year-old Medford man, who became belligerent at the YMCA while picking up his daughter about 5:30 p.m. Friday, had a blood-alcohol content of .11 when police caught up with him at Rogue Valley Medical Center, where he was visiting a hospitalized family member, Moran said. Employees at the Y called police. The man was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct linked to confronting people at the Y, driving under the influence and recklessly endangering his daughter. Medford police chaplain Bob Gass, who volunteers Friday and Saturday night, spotted a woman speeding, swerving and nearly hitting parked cars as she drove into Medford from the north on Highway 62 at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. He followed her and police contacted her when she stopped at a home on Upper Drive. The 28-year-old woman was found to have a .20 blood-alcohol level, and was lodged in jail on a DUII charge, police said. At about 9:40 p.m. Saturday an off-duty officer saw an impaired driver on Jacksonville Highway and trailed the swerving car into town to Sherm's Thunderbird on West Main Street, where the driver got out and urinated in the parking lot. The 36-year-old man, whose license was suspended from a past DUII, had a .31 blood-alcohol content, police said. He was charged with DUII and driving with a suspended license. Sunday at about 11:30 a.m. police got two calls about a driver who rear-ended vehicles at stoplights on Barnett Road at Ellendale and Black Oak drives. Police tracked down the 25-year-old Medford man, who had a .14 blood-alcohol level, and charged him with DUII, reckless driving and two counts of hit and run. Elsewhere in the state, Gresham police this week cited a man who crashed into two vehicles stopped at a light in March. The Oregon State Police crime lab just returned blood test results showing that the 39-year-old man, charged with DUII, fourth-degree assault, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment, had a blood-alcohol content of .47, Oregon State Police spokesman Lt. Gregg Hastings said. Officers said at .35 blood-alcohol level, the body responds as if under surgical anesthesia and coma is possible. Over .40, respiratory arrest and death are possible. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] . Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. 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