DUI arrests keep deputies out in force

Amherst County deputies are continuing their holiday season patrols for impaired drivers, with a checkpoint planned soon for the county.

Deputies arrested seven people on suspicion of drunken driving on the weekend of Dec. 6 and Dec. 7, which was an unusually high number, said Amherst sheriff’s Lt. Greg Turner.

This past weekend, deputies working under the auspices of the Central Virginia Highway Traffic Safety Board, which is a consortium of law enforcement agencies Lynchburg and Amherst, Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Pittsylvania and Prince Edward counties.

On Saturday night, 32 officers from nine law enforcement agencies were scheduled to staff a checkpoint on U.S. 29 in Campbell County.

Amherst deputies also work with the Lynchburg Police Department to conduct checkpoints, during which they ask for motorists’ driver’s licenses and detect whether they have been drinking.

Amherst deputies are focusing on detecting and stopping impaired drivers through the New Year’s weekend, Turner said.

Virginia State Police also have increased enforcement during the holiday season. A state police enforcement during two days in November netted 21 suspected drunken drivers on Interstates 81 and 95.