The University of Central Florida Police Department has seen scarier situations that ghosts and ghouls: impaired college students behind the wheel.
UCFPD will have staff dedicated to look for impaired drivers this Halloween. The SNAP partnership with Orange County Sheriff’s Office will be in place as extra officers will be patrolling the streets.
“We hope that extra officers out looking for underage drinkers and impaired drivers serves as a reminder to think before drinking and to never get behind the wheel if impaired,” UCFPD spokesperson Courtney Gilmartin said.
Ofc. Frank Imparato, Drug Recognition Expert, talked with Knight News about SNAP and why UCFPD will be cracking down on DUI’s this weekend.
Imparato leads the UCFPD in DUI arrests. Imparato said he is one of 203 DRE’s in the state of Florida and that he can tell when a driver is impaired, even due to medicine.
Imparato explained that it’s not just drinking and driving that can lead to getting arrested.
“We’re looking for the impaired drivers and that does not mean just alcohol, that could mean narcotics, prescription medication, over the counter medication… If you’re taking them and abusing that over-the counter medication your judgment can be impaired and we don’t want anybody who is impaired to be operating a motor vehicle.”
As of Imparato’s interview with Knight News, the UCFPD officer had made about 40 DUI arrests himself.
Around the holidays, such as Halloween, there is a spike in DUI patrols.
“What Orange County does is we participate in what’s called saturation patrols. Cities all throughout Orange County will send a couple of officers and we will target impaired drivers,” Imparato said.
A common thread among the DUI arrests has been the use of fake IDs.
“We’ve also been seeing a lot of fake IDs with SNAP and want to reiterate that possessing a counterfeit driver’s license is a felony that could follow students around for the rest of their lives,” Gilmartin said.
UCFPD has seen many cases where impaired drivers have caused harm within the last couple of weeks.
The most recent DUI arrest went down on Thursday when UCFPD caught Christian Houston running a red light on Gemini Blvd., according to the arrest affidavit.
One impaired driver crashed a car into a tree at The Pointe on Oct. 21. Another arrest affidavit depicted that Salvatore Rodriguez hit the front right bumper of a vehicle when turning into the point and fled off scene.
Another DUI arrest occurred when a drunk driver hit a car and fled the scene at a sorority house on Oct. 24. Rachel Garrison was leaving the Kappa Delta house where she hit a parked vehicle when backing out of a parking spot and fled the scene, according to the arrest affidavit.
Like Imparato said, one beer is too many when getting behind the wheel. Assign a designated driver or use other methods of transportation, such as Uber or a taxi, if plans involve drinking.
Have a safe Halloween, Knights!
