The News Room [News Release]

Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-224-0615
Release Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2004

New crackdown on deadbeat drunken drivers paying off with jail time --- New unit’s 500th arrest in 7 months gets 83 days in jail for not showing to court

The 500th convicted drunken driver in Wayne County to be arrested under a new Sheriff’s Office crackdown on those who fail to appear in court is now residing in the county jail, according to Sheriff Warren Evans. Van Buren Township resident Keith Wayne Smith, who had several alcohol-related offenses on his record, was arrested at his apartment yesterday afternoon.

Until last year, drunken drivers in the county who skipped their court dates or violated their probation usually got of scott-free, since no one was looking for them. Since Evans formed his new LAST CALL unit, which is dedicated to finding those absconders, hundreds of “deadbeat drunken drivers” have found out the hard way that the free ride is over. Now they are sought out, arrested, taken back to court, and in many cases, to jail.

Smith is a perfect example. Huron Township police arrested 41-year old Smith in April 2003 for his second OUIL offense, for which he was convicted. As part of his probation, Smith was sentenced to install an “interlock” - a device that requires him to blow into it to make sure he isn’t drunk. If he is, his vehicle will not start.

The problem is that Smith, who also had previous convictions for driving while impaired and having open intoxicants in his car, never installed the device, which is a violation of his probation. He also failed to appear in court when ordered by a judge to address his violation.

Yesterday the LAST CALL unit, which Evans established in October, arrested Smith, making him the five-officer unit’s 500th apprehension in less than seven months. The deputies, assisted by Van Buren police officers, picked Smith up at his apartment in Van Buren for violating his probation. Officers say Smith had been drinking at the time of his arrest. Smith then was brought directly to 34th District Court, where a judge sentenced him to serve 83 days in the Wayne County jail.

“We are serious about letting people know that if you get caught driving drunk in Wayne County, you’d better show up for court, or chances are you’ll be going to jail,” Evans said. “We simply are not going to tolerate people abusing a system that is designed to protect the public.”

Last year, research conducted by Evans’ office revealed that more than 7,000 OUIL absconders on the loose in Wayne County, many of them repeat offenders. Evans said that despite having such a small unit, it is making a difference.

“We already have gone far beyond what we thought we would be able to accomplish with only a handful of officers and so many violators,” Evans said. “In our grant proposal, we estimated that we would make approximately 500 arrest in one year. We’ve done that in only seven months.”

Evans said he believes that the success of the unit means the grant likely will be renewed for another year. More important, it may change the attitudes that drunken drivers have about going to court. “The end game here is not arrest statistics, its changing people’s attitudes,” Evans said. “We want to get to the point in Wayne County where blowing off a court date doesn’t even enter the mind of a convicted drunken driver, because he or she knows we’ll come looking for them.”

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