The NYPD has made more drunk-driving arrests in Corona than anywhere else in the city this year, the New York Post reported this week. There have been 257 arrests so far this year in the 115th Precinct, which covers Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.
The 110th Precinct garnered the second-highest number of DWIs in the city with 167 arrests this year, according to the Post. The third-highest was the 6th Precinct in the West Village.
Police sources told the Post the 115th Precinct faces major problems because of Roosevelt Avenue, where drivers maneuver along the busy, crowded road and swerve so as not to hit double-parked cars.
Despite the high number of DWIs, there is relatively little street crime in these parts of western Queens, allowing police to focus on drunk driving, the Post reported.
Police will “see a guy at a traffic light nodding off, walk over, smell he’s been drinking and make an arrest,” sources told the Post.
Councilwoman Julissa Farreras (D-Jackson Heights) said she was appalled her district had numerous drunk driving incidents and called for a outreach effort to curb motorists from getting behind the wheel intoxicated.
“We need to have a massive campaign of education to make people understand that this behavior is deadly and unacceptable,” she said in a statement.
— Anna Gustafson
