Massive Friday night checkpoint nets numerous DWI arrests

February 28, 2009 by Jeff Aydelette

This stretch of Hwy. 17 pulsated Friday night with blue lights and the famous 'DWI BATmobile.'

Troopers with the North Carolina Highway Patrol screen drunken driving suspects in the BATmobile, a recreational vehicle fully outfitted with forensic testing apparatus.

At 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, Officer Jason Williams with the New Bern Police Department performs a field sobriety test on an unidentified drunken driving suspect.

A massive ‘Driving While Impaired’ checkpoint, set up on Hwy. 17 just north of the Neuse River Bridge, netted a number of arrests Friday night. The four-hour traffic stop, coordinated by the Bridgeton Police Department, involved approximately 25 law enforcement officers from a number of different jurisdictions.
Bridgeton Police Chief Steve Brown pronounced the effort an unqualified success.
“Statistics indicate one out of every seven drivers coming at you on the highway are under the influence,” said Ken Rhodes, coordinator of the BATmobile -- a recreational vehicle fully equipped to perform forensic testing of drunken driving suspects.
See full story and more photographs in the March 4 issue of The Pamlico News.

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