Crime & Safety

CHP: Drunken Driving Spikes on Valentine's Day

The holiday got off to a rough start early Tuesday when an alleged DUI driver was badly hurt in a crash on Highway 1.

Blinded by love—or just too many cocktails—there seems to be an uptick in drunken driving arrests around Valentine's Day, according to California Highway Patrol officer Sarah Jackson.

"I have noticed a spike in DUI activity on Valentine's Day in years past," Jackson said Tuesday morning. "Let's hope that was just because it fell on a weekend the last couple of years."

Early Tuesday, a 32-year-old Santa Cruz woman flipped her car on Highway 1 in Aptos. Chandra Peterson was driving drunk at the time of the crash, the CHP reported.

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Peterson was northbound in a Toyota Camry near Freedom Boulevard just after 1:30 a.m. when she lost control, drove up the dirt embankment on the right side of the highway and rolled her car, the CHP reported.

Peterson was trapped in her car. Aptos/La Selva Fire crews got her out. She was taken to Dominican Hospital, then was flown to an out-of-county trauma center, according to the CHP.

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No one else was in her car and no other vehicles were involved, the CHP reported.

Jackson said Peterson was arrested on suspicion of DUI but released to the care of the hospital because of the extent of her injuries.


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