3 Arrested in PD DUI Checkpoint, Drunken Stumbler Hospitalized

A man was so drunk he had to be taken to a hospital for treatment before sheriff's deputies could even set up a DUI checkpoint they were staffing in Palm Desert, a sergeant said.

Sheriff's deputies preparing to staff the checkpoint in Palm Desert spotted the man staggering drunkenly around the area of Highway 111, near San Pablo Avenue Friday night, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Adams said.

Deputies then arrested two suspected DUI drivers, another motorist for alleged heroin possession and five others for alleged license violations.

The checkpoint was staffed Friday from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Deputies conducted 11 field sobriety tests; they screened 390 vehicles -- all of those that passed through the checkpoint -- the sergeant said.

Three vehicles were also impounded, Adams said.