The News Room [News Archive]

News Release

Sheriff Contact: John Roach: 313-224-0615
Release Date: Thursday, January 22, 2003

Local drunken drivers getting the message: appear in court or deputies will find you - New effort to nab no-shows nets 160 in first three months - Overdue day in court bringing stiff fines, jail time

For years people like Southgate resident Michael Wilson, who have been arrested for drunken driving, have known a dirty little secret: if they pay their $100 bond and skip their court date, no one would come looking for them. No more fines. No community service. No alcohol awareness classes.

In Wayne County, however, deadbeat drunken drivers are getting a wake-up call, compliments of a one-of-a-kind unit created late last year by Sheriff Warren Evans. In only its first three months of operation, the four-officer Last Call unit has arrested 163 people who have been charged with an alcohol-related driving offense, but never faced a judge. In fact, Mr. Wilson, a Ford Motor Company employee who was wanted on four "failure to appear" warrants, was picked up last week at his office in Dearborn.

Last year, Evans discovered that more than 7,000 people were wanted on outstanding alcohol-related driving warrants in Wayne County, making a mockery of the system, he says. According to Evans, however, the new push is making a difference.

"We've been tracking the dispositions of these cases and are seeing that most of the people we bring in are getting stiffer fines and, in many cases, jail time," Evans said. "But the important thing to me is that they are having their day in court and hopefully, getting the wake-up call they need."

How the unit works
On a regular basis, officers from the Last Call unit pull files from district courts throughout Wayne County, looking for violators and tracking down addresses for their homes and places of employment. Once they have enough files worked up, they perform localized “sweeps” to arrest people wanted on warrants from that district court.

Since the unit became operational in late October, deputies have executed warrants out of district courts in Allen Park, Livonia, Redford, Taylor, Westland and Woodhaven.

While most of the offenders are wanted for not showing up for court, the unit also picks up those who have been convicted and sentenced, but fail to adhere to the terms of their probation.

Jenny Lozano, Director of the Wayne County Chapter of Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, says that the very existence of this new unit gives her an extra tool when she is conducting court-ordered alcohol awareness classes.

"Now I tell the participants, 'don’t think you can just show up for one class and then disappear, because the Sheriff’s Office will come find you,' " she says. "You can see their attitudes change."

Evans says that with more than 7,000 absconders on the loose, he has no illusions about catching all of them. The goal, he says, is to get people to take their offenses and penalties more seriously.

"It will be gradual at first, but eventually, people who are arrested for alcohol-related driving offenses in Wayne County will get the message that they had better show up for their court date," Evans said. "Otherwise, they may be met by sheriff’s deputies at their home or their job and go back to jail."

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