1,000 vehicles stopped in DUI crackdown

Monday, August 21, 2006 PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police have stopped about 1,000 vehicles and made 20 arrests in the city as part of "Operation Nighthawk," a regional campaign to crack down on drunken driving, police said. A joint force of Pittsburgh and state police halted many of the vehicles at a checkpoint as they left nightspots in the city's South Side neighborhood late Friday and early Saturday. Pittsburgh police planned to add 12 roving patrols to target drunken drivers throughout Allegheny, Beaver, Washington, Greene, Fayette and Westmoreland counties from late Saturday through early Sunday, authorities said. The effort is part of a police campaign in the mid-Atlantic region called "Operation Nighthawk" and an annual national sweep, which typically runs from mid-August through Labor Day, to reduce impaired driving. Pittsburgh police say they plan to have additional patrols and so-called sobriety checkpoints every weekend through the end of September. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.