New Year's DUI blitz nets 72 arrests statewide

SALT LAKE COUNTY — The Utah Highway Patrol's New Year's enforcement blitz resulted in 72 DUI-related arrests across the state, including that of a 19-year-old Logan woman who backed into a trooper's car after he pulled her over for suspected drunken driving.

The young woman had a blood alcohol level of .16, twice the legal limit, according a statement released Sunday by the UHP. Damage to the trooper's vehicle was minor. 

Statistics for the entire weekend will be released Tuesday, UHP officials said. 

A donation of $5,000 by the New Car Dealers of Utah funded 20 additional DUI enforcement shifts. The car dealers' “Good Wheels Program" was part of a concentrated statewide enforcement blitz over the holiday weekend.

An enforcement crackdown conducted a year ago — Dec. 17, 2010 to Jan. 2, 2011 — resulted in 136 DUI arrests, 37 "alcohol restricted" driver citations as well as 13 ignition interlock citations, according to UHP's website.

— Marjorie Cortez