Nearly 2,000 charged with DWI in July Fourth crackdown

Slow Start to State Highway Patrol Review

State law enforcement officers handed out nearly 2,000 DWI citations statewide during a 10-day operation around the July Fourth holiday, the Governor's Office said Thursday.

During "Booze It & Loose It: Operation Firecracker," which ran June 27 to July 6, law enforcement officers issued 66,738 traffic and criminal citations and conducted 5,724 sobriety checkpoints and patrols.

Of the 1,986 citations for driving while impaired, Wake County accounted for 132, Mecklenburg County for 114, and Robeson and New Hanover counties for 61 each.

Officers arrested 534 wanted people and recovered 85 stolen vehicles.

They also cited motorists for 6,549 safety-belt and 1,075 child-passenger safety violations, 20,301 speeding violations and 1,256 drug offenses.



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