TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Tampa Police Department officials cracked down on impaired drivers this St. Patrick’s Day weekend with heightened patrols.
Deputies arrested 26 people for DUI and made 316 traffic stops in the county, a news release said.
Tampa Police Department also did their fair share of arrests in tandem with county deputies. Officers made 16 arrests and 155 traffic stops, totaling more than 40 DUI arrests across Hillsborough County.
"Thanks to the diligence of our DUI Unit and our patrol deputies, drivers that could have seriously injured themselves or other drivers spent a night in the Orient Road Jail rather than on our roadways,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in the release.
“We are fortunate the weekend passed without any major incidents."
In 2022, the influence of alcohol was confirmed in more than 450 crashes in Florida that resulted in 41 deaths and 41 serious bodily injuries, according to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties had the most impaired-driving crashes in the state that year with 152 total crashes, according to its website.
