This past week, Santa Barbara police officers again paid extra attention to removing impaired drivers from the community. The goal is to prevent drunken drivers from playing the Grinch this holiday season by harming themselves or others or causing property damage.

» At 9:50 p.m. Dec. 16, an officer who works drinking driver enforcement stopped a 26-year-old man in a 2006 Chrysler 300 at 300 E. Cabrillo Blvd. for expired registration. He was arrested for DUI and driving on a suspended license.

» At 11:25 p.m. Dec. 16, an officer stopped an 18-year-old woman in a 1993 Plymouth at 200 E. Haley St. for defective taillights. She was arrested for DUI and possession of an opened 1.75-liter bottle of vodka. There were four passengers in her vehicle.

» At 12:30 a.m. Friday, an officer stopped a 22-year-old man in a 1996 Saturn at 3800 State St. for driving with his headlights off. He was arrested for DUI.

» At 1:30 a.m. Friday, an officer was on foot at 1 W. Ortega St. His attention was drawn to a 1990 Mercedes that was aggressively honking its horn at a taxi driver parked in a driveway. The taxi driver moved out of the way, and the Mercedes partially pulled in the driveway as to block a lane of traffic. When other taxi drivers arrived to pick up fares, the Mercedes continued honking at them to get out of the way. The officer determined the honking was excessive and in violation of the vehicle code. He contacted the driver, a 19-year-old man who presented counterfeit identification that indicated he was 21 years old. He was arrested for DUI and possession of false identification.

» At 10:25 p.m. Friday, an officer spotted a 1997 Honda drive southbound at 300 State St. at an unsafe speed. As she followed the vehicle, the driver made two abrupt turns before parking in a deserted lot at the dead-end of Helena Street. The driver, a 28-year-old male, immediately exited the vehicle and quickly walked away, leaving two female passengers behind. He refused to stop until the officer threatened to use a Tazer. Other officers stood by until the field sobriety tests were completed. Salcedo was arrested for DUI.

» At 1:45 a.m. Saturday, an officer saw a 2009 Toyota pickup speed up Chapala Street and make several unsafe lane changes in traffic. A 31-year-old male was stopped at 800 Chapala St. and arrested for DUI.

» At 2:15 a.m. Saturday, citizens called 9-1-1 to report a collision in the 900 block of Olive Street. A large pickup truck had crashed into a parked vehicle and then into a retaining wall. The driver left his disabled truck on the sidewalk and fled. An officer checked the area and found a 49-year-old man hunkered down in a darkened driveway. He had the truck keys in his pocket and admitted being the driver. He claimed that “falling asleep” caused the crash. He was arrested for DUI and hit-and-run.

» At 9:05 p.m. Saturday, an officer stopped a 1999 Mazda at 300 N. Milpas St. for rolling through a stop sign at Nopal and Haley streets and then a red light at Haley Milpas streets. Another vehicle on Milpas Street had to brake and swerve to avoid a collision. The driver, a 31-year-old male, was arrested for DUI.

» At 12:10 a.m. Sunday, an officer stopped a 25-year-old male in a 1997 Honda for driving the wrong way on 1 W. Gutierrez St. He was arrested for DUI.

» At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, an officer stopped a 26-year-old woman in a 2007 BMW at 3200 State St. after seeing her weave and swerve for two blocks. Porter was arrested for DUI.

» At 3:50 a.m. Sunday, a citizen called to report a possibly unsafe/impaired driver in a Honda Odyssey last seen in a San Roque neighborhood. An officer spotted the vehicle and stopped it at 3700 State St. The driver, a 38-year-old woman, was arrested for DUI.

» At 6 p.m. Sunday, an officer saw a motorcyclist riding without a helmet. He stopped a 37-year-old woman at 200 W. De La Guerra St. and arrested her for DUI, unlicensed driver and no insurance.

» At 10 p.m. Sunday, officers were on foot at 1 W. Gutierrez St. when they saw the driver of a 2003 Audi stop in the middle of the street and chat with some pedestrians. The officers shined their flashlight at the driver as a message to move along. The vehicle remained stopped in the street, so the officers contacted the driver, a 31-year-old male. He was arrested for DUI.

» At 11:20 p.m. Monday, an officer responded to 3700 State St. on a call of a traffic collision. He determined that a 2002 Chrysler minivan had rear-ended another vehicle. The driver of the Chrysler, a 41-year-old male, was arrested for DUI.

— Lt. Paul McCaffrey is a public information officer with the Santa Barbara Police Department.