Dozens of suspected drunken drivers were arrested over Fourth of July weekend as part of Target Zero.
The goal of Target Zero is to achieve zero traffic deaths and zero disabling injuries in Washington state by the year 2030.
The kickoff patrol was done is memory of Decatur High School students Derek King and Nicholas Hodgins as well as Anthony Beaver, who survived the car crash that killed his two friends.
Kirkland resident Alexander Peder is currently awaiting trail in jail for vehicular homicide in the deaths of King and Hodgins. Peder is suspected of driving drunk in the June 10 accident. Peder had two prior DUI arrests, but in both cases, the charges were pleaded down to a lesser charge.
Anthony Beaver and Hodgins’ family attended the start of the patrol on July 2.
From July 1 to July 5, 57 impaired drivers were arrested. Of those arrests, four were made by the Bellevue Police Department, and 53 were made by 18 team members from the Washington State Patrol.
“We said it and we meant it,” State Patrol Chief John R. Batiste said in a press release. “If you choose to drink and drive in King, Pierce or Snohomish counties, your chances of being caught and convicted are now much higher.”
The WSP Target Zero Teams contacted 272 drivers during their weekend patrols for traffic violations of all kinds. In the three-county area, another 52 impaired drivers were arrested by state troopers who were not part of the Target Zero emphasis patrols.
The Federal Way Police Department was among dozens of law enforcement agencies that participated in the Target Zero Teams.
The first arrest came just moments after the kickoff: Trooper Dan McDonald had just departed the event when he came upon an impaired driver travelling 84 mph on I-5 in Tukwila. McDonald stopped the vehicle, driven by a 23-year-old Kent resident. After submitting to field sobriety tests, the driver was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs. The driver, who also had a loaded .45 caliber pistol in his vehicle, was booked into the King County jail for DUI and unlawful possession of a firearm.
2009 marked the safest year on Washington roadways since 1955, yet road travel has increased fivefold. Funding for the patrols is part of a two-year, $4.8 million grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Update
Kirkland resident Alexander Peder was originally scheduled for a revocation hearing for July 14, regarding his 2008 conviction for reckless endangerment.
In that case, he was arrested for DUI, but the breathalyzer results were suppressed by the court and he instead pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment.
Peder’s attorney is requesting more time to prepare for the hearing, which is now expected to be rescheduled for sometime in August. Prosecutors will be asking the court to revoke his prior sentence for reckless endangerment and impose the full sentence of one year in jail, which would be served in addition to any time he receives for the two counts of vehicular homicide. He faces five to seven years for those counts.
His next case setting hearing for those charges is on Aug. 18.
