Petaluma checkpoints net 3 on DUI charges

Petaluma police arrested and cited 10 drivers during two DUI and driver's license checkpoints Friday night. Three of the arrests were for drunk driving.

The first checkpoint was staged on Old Redwood Highway near the North McDowell Extension between 6 and 9 p.m. and the second was initiated just before 11 p.m. until 2 a.m. on Petaluma Boulevard North near Gossage Avenue.

Shawn Kristoffer Cahoon, 34, of Rohnert Park entered the first checkpoint at about 6:28 p.m. with a blood alcohol level almost three times the legal limit, officials said. Officers screening drivers detected the odor of alcohol and Cahoon displayed signs of intoxication, police said.

Cahoon was on probation for a previous DUI in February 2008. The terms of his probation include, among others, that he not drive a vehicle with alcohol in his blood and that he not refuse to take a blood alcohol test. Cahoon refused to take a chemical test and was booked into Sonoma County Jail for violating probation, officials said.

His bail was set at $10,000.

Of the 1,534 vehicles that passed through the two checkpoints, 1,494 were screened by officers for signs of DUI and driver's license violations. Sixty-nine drivers were directed to nearby parking areas for further evaluation.

Aside from the three arrested for DUI, one driver was arrested for driving on a suspended license and three were arrested for driving without ever having been issued a license. One person was cited for having an expired driver's license and another person was arrested for an outstanding stolen vehicle warrant. One person was arrested for possession of marijuana in his car.

A total of seven vehicles were towed and four were impounded for 30 days because the drivers either did not have a driver's license or were driving on a suspended license.

The 30-day impound rule often affects illegal immigrants because California law does not allow them to obtain a state driver's license. As in previous checkpoints, a number of activists protested the checkpoints Friday nights, warning drivers by holding signs that read, “Reten, Reten.” They stationed themselves down the road from the checkpoints. Reten is Spanish for checkpoint.