The Tacoma-Pierce County DUI Task Force is launching a DUI-party emphasis patrol this weekend.

About 40 offficers from area departments will work together in two teams to target drunken drivers. They will do it in honor of Timothy "Beau" Bockmann, who was killed in 2007 when he was hit by a drunken driver who was leaving a bonfire party.

The full release is posted after the jump.

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A Tacoma firefighter charged with vehicular homicide in a fatal crash last month has resigned from the department.

Joseph Mondau, 47, resigned April 30, Tacoma fire spokeswoman Jolene Davis said Thursday.

Mondau is accused of driving drunk when his SUV hit a motorcyclist April 6 near North Sixth Street and Grant Avenue in Tacoma. The motorcyclist, 43-year-old Mark Kaytna of Lakewood, died the next day.

Mondau, a 12-year veteran, was reportedly drinking at a Tacoma bar before the crash and refused a ride home from a friend, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said his breath registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.121 about an hour after the crash.

Checking the Pierce County jail roster of who's been arrested and for what is standard daily procedure at The News Tribune.

Once again today I noticed that there were several DWI bookings between 7 and 10 a.m. I had always chalked it up to a few hard traveling folks getting popped around breakfast time. But my curiosity got the better of me today and I crunched the numbers on more than a year's worth of data (see chart above).

Out of about 3,400 bookings that included at least one charge of DWI, I saw the expected after-bar spike at 2 a.m., then a sharp spike early in the morning.

I called Sgt. Patti Jackson over the at jail and she set me straight. The morning spike is for people who have been sentenced and are showing up to serve their day in jail. (Thanks, Patti!)

Lisa Close was in surgery this morning at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle after getting hit by a suspected drunken driver Monday night as she tried to cross East Main Avenue with her young daughters and boyfriend.

Close is 5 months pregnant. Officials have said the unborn child has a strong heartbeat.

Close's mother reported Close is doing OK. She's in surgery right now.

"Right now, we are just focusing on Lisa," said Kathy, who didn't want her last name used.

Law enforcement officers throughout the state will be tying red ribbons to their car antennas this holiday season to remind others not to drink and driver.

Officials from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission, the Washington State Patrol and other law enforcement offices will be participating i n the "Tie One On For Safety" campaign this holiday season.

Last year, there were 31 alcohol-related traffic deaths in the state.

"For those 31 families this holiday season will be a sad anniversary instead of a celebration," a Washington State Patrol press release states. "The goal of Tie One On For Safety is to remind people that drinking and driving deaths can be prevented."

Troopers will be using their fixed-wing aircraft to help search for suspected drunken drivers in the upcoming weeks. The aircraft using Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) cameras to help find the drivers.

The aircraft crew notifies ground troopers about impaired drivers.

Here's a little more from the press release:

Alcohol related deaths can be prevented by making a simple choice. If you are going to drink alcohol, choose not to drive. If you are the designated driver, that means you choose not to drink any alcohol at all. If you can’t find a designated driver, choose to call a taxi.

...

MADD, Washington State Traffic Safety Commission, and the WSP want you to make this season a time of joy and gladness not mourning. The choice is yours.

Victims of drunken and drugged drivers will be remembered Friday night at a candlelight vigil in Fife.

The Tacoma-Pierce County DUI Victims' Informational Panel is hosting the vigil, which will take place at 6 p.m. at Columbia Junior High School, 2901 54th Ave. E.

Friends and family members of those killed by drunken drivers are invited to attend, the panel reported. Washington State Patrol troopers plan to read the list of victim names. A bell will be rung for each victim.

Contact Betty Conant at giibac@comcast.net to have a victim's name added to the list.

As part of the ceremony, Washington Traffic Safety Commission Director Lowell Porter and Fife Police Chief Brad Blackburn will honor officers, deputies and troopers who have arrested drunken drivers on Pierce County roadways.

In addition, a silent auction will be held to raise money to help assist victim families.

An 19-year-old Tacoma man was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of eluding police, cocaine possession, reckless endangerment and DUI after a Washington State Patrol airplane helped track him, the agency said in a press release Tuesday.

According to it:

Smokey 4, a WSP airplane, spotted a recklessly driven vehicle headed east on Highway 18. It gave updates to troopers on the ground, who attempted to stop the it. The lights and sirens weren't enough to get the suspect to stop.

During the pursuit, the driver left the road and tore a front wheel off his vehicle, but still he kept going. Smokey 4 continued to keep an eye on things.

The suspect pulled into a condominium complex and ran away. A passenger was taken into custody.

But Smokey 4 was keeping an eye on the suspect while the Auburn Police started to track him with a K-9. At one point the suspect tried to bribe someone in the neighborhood to hide him for $100.

The chief of the Pacific Police Department was arrested last night on suspicion of DUI in Bonney Lake.

One issue that's come up - the chief is a throat cancer survivor and the breath test might not have been administered properly.

Here's our story that's up on the homepage.

This is the press release the State Patrol sent out:

At approximately 0345 in the early morning hours of Sunday June 29, 2008 the Washington State Patrol responded to a single vehicle rollover collision that had occurred southbound Interstate 405 just south of state route 900 blocking all lanes.

While arriving to the scene Troopers learned that the 5 occupants of the 1990 white Ford Explorer had been partially or completely ejected from the vehicle as it tumbled down the interstate. As the vehicle came to rest it landed directly on one of the thrown passengers trapping him underneath. With the quick actions of a State Patrol Sergeant and several good samaritans the vehicle was lifted off the trapped man and he was pulled to safety awaiting fire department personnel for further medical assistance.

A second ejected passenger was found nearly unconscious in the bushes off of the interstate with the assistance of a Tukwila Police K-9 unit.

Early reports from the 18 year old female driver indicated that she was choked from behind by one of her passengers causing her to lose control of the vehicle but that was soon after proven untrue by State Patrol Detectives as the driver was arrested for suspicion of Driving Under the Influence and 4 separate counts of Vehicular Assault.

Injuries listed to the passengers are:
14 year old female from Seatac, broken arm
18 year old male from Kent, neck and back injuries, deep cuts and scrapes
16 year old male from Kent, cuts and scrapes
16 year old male from Unknown, neck and back injuries

The driver, 18 year old Christine Elkins from Auburn, is currently listed in critical condition at Harborview Medical center and will be booked into the King County Jail after she is released.

KENT, WA – June 11, 2008 –Kent police are spearheading a one night task force with the goal of preventing the tragedy of injuries and death related to young people celebrating high school graduation with alcohol. Many high schools in King County are graduating this weekend. There may be a few graduates who will forget to celebrate sober. Six south county cities, with the assistance of the Washington State Patrol will be out on the streets to identify impaired drivers and get them off the street and out of danger.

Officers involved in this emphasis are from Kent, Tukwila, Renton, Auburn, Federal Way, Des Moines, and Troopers of the Washington State Patrol. The emphasis will be staffed with 25 to 30 officers, all experienced in identifying impaired drivers. The emphasis will be Saturday evening June 14th until early morning Sunday.

After a 7:00 p.m. briefing at the Kent Police Station over 25 officers will hit the roads looking for impaired drivers in south King County. These officers will be able to concentrate on identifying impaired driving. Officers will bring the driver to the WSP Mobile Impaired Driver Unit (MIDU) based at the Kent Police Station. The MIDU will be staffed by WSP Troopers who will complete the screening of impaired drivers. This will reduce the diving and processing time for officers and allow them to spend more time on the road looking for impaired drivers.

Almost every Officer and Trooper can tell us a gut wrenching story of a young person injured or killed in a DUI collision. No police officer, state trooper, or deputy sheriff wants to go to those accidents, they would rather arrest the impaired driver than go to the funeral of the person he or she runs into.

Kent Police Chief Steve Strachan urges: “Parents talk to your children, students and grads talk to your friends. Plan to celebrate sober. Do not put your body, your future, your life in jeopardy.”

A total of 143 people were arrested or cited on a variety of charges on Friday and Saturday night, the first weekend of Party Patrol for 2008.

The majority of charges were for Minor in Possession of Alcohol (124). Other charges included Furnishing Premises for Minors to Consume Alcohol, Possession of Marijuana, DUI, and three arrests on felony drug charges.

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The King County Sheriff’s Office annual Party Patrol begins on Friday evening, June 6th. The goal is to avert tragedy this graduation season by curtailing teenage drinking and driving.

The patrols will continue for at least the next several weeks. Since the inception of Party Patrol in 1998, there have been no deaths or serious injury accidents involving juveniles and alcohol in the area where the patrol was in operation.

Party Patrol is a multi-jurisdictional effort by local police agencies, coordinated by the Sheriff’s Office.

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