SAN CARLOS, Calif. (KRON) — A driver recklessly made a U-turn and sped away to escape from a San Mateo County Sheriff’s DUI checkpoint on Cinco De Mayo.
The wild incident was recorded on video by a witness’ cellphone.
The Sheriff’s Office had set up a Cinco De Mayo DUI checkpoint to stop vehicles traveling on El Camino Real in San Carlos between 6 p.m. – 2 a.m.
Deputies screened 720 drivers to determine if they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
A witness was recording the DUI checkpoint with his cellphone when one SUV packed with young adults was confronted by the checkpoint.
The witness said the SUV driver appeared to be drunk.
A woman who was sitting in the backseat of the SUV climbed up to the front and took over the wheel from the previous driver.
San Mateo County deputies can be heard yelling in the video for the driver to turn the engine off. Deputies walk toward the SUV and appear to have their flashlights and guns drawn.
“Turn the car off! Turn the car off!” deputies yell.
The woman backed up the SUV into a shallow ditch, plowed over traffic cones, made a U-turn, and sped away by driving the wrong-way on El Camino Real.
It’s unclear if deputies activated a pursuit nor if the driver was eventually nabbed.
The witness uploaded his footage on Instagram and captioned it, “Happy Cinco de Mayo!”
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office released statistics from the DUI checkpoint to KRON4 Friday morning without mentioning the U-turn incident.
The checkpoint yielded the following:
• 720 vehicles screened
• 23 Field sobriety tests conducted
• 1 Driver arrested for Driving Under the Influence
• 6 Drivers arrested and released with a citation for driving on suspended license
• 27 Drivers cited for driving a vehicle while unlicensed
• 12 Drivers cited for driving without their license in possession
• 1 Driver cited for driving with an open container
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“This planned checkpoint was part of an on-going effort to reduce collisions related to impaired driving and increase public safety,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote.