Weekend DUI checkpoint nets 14 arrests

Johnson County sheriff’s deputies and Olathe police officers arrested 14 people in Olathe on Saturday at a DUI checkpoint.

“Anytime you can get anybody off the road that’s drinking and driving, that’s a success,” said Master Deputy Tom Erickson, a sheriff’s spokesman. “But when you can get 14 in one place, I think that really enhances it.”

In addition to the DUI arrests, deputies and officers made three drug arrests, one minor-in-possession arrest and one arrest for obstructing the legal process. During the checkpoint at Santa Fe Street and Lindenwood Drive, 537 cars were stopped.

Erickson said deputies found three marijuana plants in small pots in the trunk of one car. That was unusual for a checkpoint or even a traffic stop, he said.

The checkpoint was part of an ongoing national campaign “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” It runs through Sept. 1. The Olathe Police and Johnson County Sheriff’s departments received grants from the Kansas Department of Transportation to participate.