35 DWI arrests as holiday weekend begins

Nassau and Suffolk county police arrested 35 people on charges of drunken driving from Friday night into Saturday, the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer.

Fourteen people were arrested on DWI charges in Nassau County between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday. Twenty-one people were arrested on DWI and driving-while-ability-impaired charges in Suffolk County between 4 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Both county police departments deployed extra patrol officers as they stepped up efforts to catch offenders, they said.

None of the arrests was the result of a serious motor vehicle crash, police in both counties said.

The number does not include DWI arrests by State Police or the sheriff's department, which patrol the parkways and the Long Island Expressway.

Increased patrols will be in force all weekend.