Los Angeles, Ca
Southern California hope to save lives from DUI drivers on St. Patrick's Day
![Southern California hope to save lives from DUI drivers on St. Patrick's Day Southern California hope to save lives from DUI drivers on St. Patrick's Day](https://ktla.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/03/snapshot-3-11.jpg?w=900)
As revelers prepare for St. Patrick’s Day festivities this Sunday, authorities will be ramping up their presence and patrolling the streets for drunk drivers.
California Highway Patrol officers will be out in full force across Southern California, hoping to keep the streets safe and prevent any unnecessary injuries or deaths.
Officers said St. Patrick’s Day is one of the major holidays when driving under the influence is unfortunately prevalent.
As revelers head out for a night of drinking and celebrating at local bars and restaurants, watchful CHP officers like Luis Quintero are making sure people can get home safely.
“We tend to see more drivers go out and drink and drive,” Quintero said. “So, the sole purpose of the task force is to saturate that area and get these drivers off the road.”
Quintero took KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff on a ride-along through Baldwin Park and downtown Los Angeles as he explained the goals of CHP’s Impaired Driving Task Force. The task force is typically deployed during holidays and at monthly intervals.
“I’m looking for driving patterns that I’ve seen throughout my career that indicate some kind of impairment,” Quintero explained.
Authorities will be holding DUI checkpoints at designated locations. Los Angeles police will be deploying plainclothes officers to liquor stores to ensure alcohol isn’t sold to anyone under 21 or to anyone who is visibly drunk.
He explains the idea is to saturate highly-populated areas with officers from several local divisions to ensure partiers are not endangering themselves or innocent citizens.
“Drivers under the influence tend to lack awareness and not notice or sometimes see us. This is another indicator right here,” Quintero said as he spotted an SUV driving without any lights on.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, St. Patrick’s Day is one of the deadliest times on the road nationwide.
A 2021 report found that 13,384 people died from alcohol-impaired crashes, marking a 14% increase from 2020.
This doesn’t mean that partygoers should avoid drinking, but rather, planning ahead is the most important thing, authorities said. Whether choosing to travel through a rideshare company or a taxi or going home with a designated sober driver, ensuring a safe ride to and from party locations can save lives.
“If you are going to drink, do it responsibly,” Quintero said.
Authorities are also reminding the public that alcohol isn’t the only substance that can cause impairment. Marijuana, prescription medication or over-the-counter drugs can also impair the ability to drive.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Driver runs across 101 Freeway after slamming into overturned sedan
![Driver runs across 101 Freeway after slamming into overturned sedan Driver runs across 101 Freeway after slamming into overturned sedan](https://ktla.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/08/snapshot-2024-08-31T063012.211.jpg?w=900)
A hit-and-run driver remains outstanding after they collided with an overturned vehicle on the 101 Freeway and fled on foot.
Preliminary information indicates that police had responded to the eastbound span of the 101 near Balboa Boulevard in Encino just before 3 a.m. Saturday on reports of an overturned red sedan blocking traffic.
As first responders arrived on scene, another vehicle – said to be a gray Nissan – barreled into the overturned sedan.
Footage obtained by KTLA shows the Nissan careening across the freeway before smashing into the right shoulder wall. That driver was taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition.
The driver of the red sedan fled after the collision; they were seen on video making their way towards the shoulder on foot.
As of 6 a.m. Saturday, they had not been apprehended.
Los Angeles, Ca
San Bernardino County man arrested in child predator operation
![San Bernardino County man arrested in child predator operation San Bernardino County man arrested in child predator operation](https://ktla.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/08/San-Bernardino-County-man.png?w=900)
Deputies arrested Guy Schneider, 63, of Yucaipa in an undercover child predator operation where he allegedly arranged to meet with a 13-year-old girl for sexual acts.
The 13-year-old girl was in fact an alias created by Perris Sheriff’s Station Special Enforcement Team deputies for this investigation. They received a response from Schneider ultimately expressing his desire to meet and perform sex acts, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies arranged to meet Schneider on Friday and took him into custody without incident. During his arrest, deputies found he also possessed two firearms.
Schneider was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center and is being held on a $1,000,000 bail.
The investigation team asks anyone with information about this case to contact Deputy Hartert at the Perris Sheriff’s Station: 951-210-1000.
Los Angeles, Ca
Chiquita Canyon Landfill still isn't fixing odor issues, regulators say
![Chiquita Canyon Landfill still isn't fixing odor issues, regulators say Chiquita Canyon Landfill still isn't fixing odor issues, regulators say](https://ktla.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2024/05/snapshot-6-15.jpg?w=900)
Despite pressure from neighbors and public officials, the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic continues to plague the surrounding area with terrible odors, prompting regulators to call for more to be done.
A three-day South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing earlier this month was full of criticism of the landfill operators’ inability to limit the smells reaching neighbors, noting that there has so far been “no meaningful improvement,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
In fact, efforts to combat a fire beneath the surface of the landfill — the second-largest in L.A. County — require “emergency measures that are exacerbating odors, such as excavating and relocating buried trash to prevent landslides,” the Times reports.
“Many of these actions actually have the adverse side effect of increasing odors in the immediate and short term even though they are considered necessary to curb the emergency situations occurring at the landfill,” said Kathryn Roberts, attorney for the South Coast AQMD.
In a news release, the AQMD board directed landfill operators to make changes, including meeting “more than two dozen conditions that will improve leachate collection, add preventative maintenance and inspections, mitigate odors associated with excavation activities, and require additional air monitoring.”
The issue is expected to be discussed again during another hearing in November.
The AQMD regulators join a chorus of critics targeting the landfill and its odors.
The landfill’s neighbors have filed a lawsuit alleging toxic fumes are harming them, and the Environmental Protection Agency and local elected officials have also raised concerns.
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