DWI patrols set for St. Patrick's Day weekend

ST. PAUL - Minnesota law enforcement will ramp up DWI patrols in the state's 15 deadliest counties for impaired driving during the St. Patrick's Day weekend.

Operation NightCAP will target the counties of Anoka, Beltrami, Blue Earth, Cass, Crow Wing, Dakota, Hennepin, Olmsted, Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington and Wright.

Over the last three years on St. Patrick's Day in Minnesota, alcohol-related crashes accounted for four of 11 traffic deaths and nine of 25 serious injuries. There were 1,263 impaired drivers arrested for DWI statewide on St. Patrick's Day 20052007.

Public Safety officials expect an extended celebration and a spike in impaired driving as the holiday will be celebrated on a Saturday. St. Patrick's Day was celebrated on a Saturday in 2007 and 526 motorists were arrested for DWI - nearly twice the DWI count from 2005 when the holiday landed on a Thursday.