Roadblocks set to continue throughout holiday weekend

Roadblocks around the city Thursday evening produced several citations ‘ and no drunk drivers ‘ a trend police hope will continue through the Memorial Day holiday as they will continue saturated patrols around McMinnville. ‘We just wanted to get out there and let people know we’re going to be out in force over the Memorial Day holiday to help make the roads safer,’ said McMinnville Police Sgt. Mark Mara, noting police received good feedback from motorists who were checked in the two roadblocks. ‘We would like to curb people’s habits when it comes to drinking and driving and help improve habits when it comes to people buckling up themselves and their children.’ The roadblocks, which were announced in advance as required by law, were held on South Chancery Street and Old Smithville Road. Mara said 97 motorists were checked on South Chancery and over 300 on Old Smithville. The roadblocks concluded around midnight. In all, Mara said there were 25 citations written to motorists for various minor moving violations. There were also some child-restraint violations, as well as a handful of seatbelt tickets. There were three people arrested for driving without a license and a couple cited for having open beer containers in their vehicle. While the roadblocks are complete, Mara said saturated patrols will still be concentrating on catching drunk drivers throughout the holiday weekend. Meanwhile, the highway patrol has announced it will be establishing checkpoints around the county at various times during the holiday weekend.