Holiday DWI arrests spike in Suffolk

The number of people charged with driving drunk over the Fourth of July weekend saw a double-digit increase this year in Suffolk County, police said.

From 3 p.m. Friday to 11 a.m. Monday, 69 people were charged with driving while intoxicated, a police spokeswoman said.

Two people were arrested by county police, accused of boating while intoxicated.

Last year, from 4 p.m. July 2 to 8 a.m. July 6, officials made 53 DWI arrests and no BWI arrests, the spokeswoman said.

In Nassau, 45 people were charged with driving while intoxicated between 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Monday -- slightly fewer than last year, police said.

From July 2 to July 5 last year, Nassau police arrested 50 people for drunken driving.

The number of BWI arrests in Nassau over the holiday weekend was not immediately available.

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Nassau and Suffolk police deployed extra officers on land and sea to combat the three scourges of the holiday weekend: drunken drivers, intoxicated boaters and people shooting off illegal fireworks.

In Suffolk, some of the increase in DWI arrests was attributed to an aggressive driving task force, composed of one sergeant and nine police officers. The task force was created in April.

In Nassau, extra officers were out enforcing drunken driving rules and the Marine Bureau had extra boats and officers on the water.