Vindy rides with OSHP at OVI checkpoint tonight

YOUNGSTOWN

The headlights of police cruisers lit up the sky even as the sun set Saturday at U.S. Route 422.

Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol converged near Jackson Street to set up a sobriety checkpoint.

The OSHP partners with the Youngstown Police Department, Mahoning County OVI Task Force, Meridian Healthcare and Mahoning Safe Communities, to run the checkpoints throughout Mahoning County as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over initiative.

Seven of the 11 fatal crashes in Mahoning County in 2016 involved impaired driving, according to the OSHP.

Officers wearing fluorescent vests set up a checkpoint beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday for drivers going both eastbound and westbound on U.S, Route 422. Checkpoints typically continue until 1 a.m. or until traffic slows to fewer than 50 cars per hour.

OSHP Canfield Post commander, Lt. Jerad Sutton, said the OSHP chooses checkpoint locations based on crash frequency, OVI statistics and resident feedback.

The Vindicator rode along with Trooper David Brown, a trained drug recognition expert, as he made four traffic stops near the area of the checkpoint Saturday.

Read more of what happened in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.