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# Police DUI checkpoint at 1550 beach lot nets one drunk driver, 61 citations
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/030602-story/
- Published: 2002-03-06T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:06:03.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

A Santa Monica Police Department checkpoint nabbed one intoxicated driver and issued 61 citations during a five-hour period last week.

Officers stopped 365 vehicles at the entrance of the 1550 beach parking lot last Friday, in search for invalid driving licenses and drunk drivers.

Of the citations issued, 41 vehicles had to be towed to the city’s impound lot. The state’s Office of Traffic Safety paid for the checkpoint through a grant as part of a program called “Removing Irresponsible Drivers,” also known as RID. The grant is designed to remove unlicensed drivers from local roads.

“The goal of these programs aim at educating and bringing awareness to our community while at the same time detecting and removing drunk and irresponsible drivers from our roadways,” said Lt. Frank Fabrega, a police department spokesman.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 6, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/030602.pdf?ref=smdp.com)