Five People Arrested in La Quinta DUI Checkpoint

LA QUINTA (CNS) – Five people were arrested following a driving under the influence checkpoint in La Quinta over the weekend, authorities said Monday.

The La Quinta Riverside County Sheriff’s Office conducted the checkpoint from 6 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday on Washington Street and Highland Palms Drive, according to Sgt. Kyle LaFond of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

“DUI checkpoint locations are determined based on data showing incidents of impaired driving-related crashes,”  LaFond said in a statement. “The primary purpose of DUI checkpoints are to promote public safety by taking suspected impaired drivers off the road.”

LaFond said that during Friday’s checkpoint, 1,950 vehicles were contacted, 34 were subjected to secondary screening, and 15 sobriety tests were conducted.

At the conclusion of the checkpoint, five people were arrested for varying suspected charges and five were cited for being unlicensed drivers, according to LaFond. The arrested individuals were La Quinta residents Jacob Steven Cordova, 28; Beverly Alexis Rojas, 32; and Donald Gene Readinger III, 52; as well as Palm Desert resident Hollyann Brown, 35; and 49-year-old John Bernard Robertson of Lomita.

Cordova was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, Readinger of resisting an officer, and Robertson of public intoxication, while Rojas was arrested due to a domestic battery bench warrant and Brown due to a narcotics warrant, LaFond said.

Cordova, Robertson, and Rojas were released from the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio on varying bail bonds, according to inmate records. There was no jail information immediately available for Readinger and Brown.

“Impaired drivers put others on the road at significant risk,” sheriff department Deputy Robert Wiggs said in a statement. “Any prevention measures that reduce the number of impaired drivers on our roads significantly improves traffic safety.”

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