St. Patrick's Day checkpoint nets 2 DUIs at Boardman site

BOARDMAN -- Two people were charged with driving under the influence at a checkpoint on South Avenue, near Lowe's.
One man charged with DUI also faces a child endangering charge because he had a 7-year-old child in the vehicle, said Tracy Styka, coordinator of the Mahoning County OVI [operating a vehicle while intoxicated] Task Force.
The checkpoint was set up from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, St. Patrick's Day, with 1,813 vehicles checked.
Of those, 33 people were cited with driving without a seat belt, six for driving with a suspended license, and one each for driving without a license and driving with an open container. Also, a set of stolen license plates was recovered.
The county OVI checkpoints average about two DUI arrests, including last year's St. Patrick's Day checkpoint on Market Street in Boardman, Styka said.
"We want to get the message out that we don't want people to drink and drive," she said. "If we get no OVI arrests, we are doing our work and people are reacting accordingly."
Dispatchers at law enforcement agencies in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties said there weren't any DUI arrests in their jurisdictions on St. Patrick's Day or they weren't aware of any.