County: Number of Holiday DUI Arrests Rise

Arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs went up this holiday season, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

During a 17-day , officers representing 100 county law enforcement agencies arrested 2,433 motorists, the department announced in a written statement Tuesday night. Last year 2,406 DUI arrests were made during the same time period.

Hermosa Beach was included in the patrol areas.

More countywide DUI crackdown efforts will take place during Super Bowl Sunday in February and St. Patrick's Day weekend in March, the department said.

New Year's Eve numbers

California Highway Patrol officers logged four traffic deaths and 274 drunken driving arrests in Los Angeles County during a "maximum deployment" effort over the New Year's holiday weekend.

The fatalities occurred on Los Angeles County roads between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Monday, according to the state police agency, which patrols area freeways and some surface roads—its figures do not include deaths or drunken driving arrests handled by municipal police departments or county sheriff's departments.

In Los Angeles County, the California Highway Patrol arrested 274 motorists on suspicion of drunken driving over the weekend, which is up from 228 during the same time frame last year.

Statewide, the California Highway Patrol reported 25 people died in traffic collisions, one more than was killed the previous year. Drunken driving arrests statewide totaled 1,270 drivers, compared to 961 arrests a year earlier.

— City News Service.