DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — New body-worn camera video captures a close call as a driver nearly hit a Douglas County Sheriff’s deputy performing a traffic stop.
FOX31 uncovered the bigger picture story beyond this footage after the driver was arrested and now faces DUI and careless driving charges. Data shows Douglas County is averaging at least a DUI per day.
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said these numbers are going up as the department deploys more resources to target these crimes.
“We’re just very fortunate that we didn’t have a deputy that was killed that night, that that could have happened very easily with that driver coming so close,” Weekly said. “Since I’ve been the sheriff, we’ve actually doubled the amount of our traffic deputies are out there on the street. We take driving while impaired very seriously, and we are out there every single night looking for drunk drivers.”
So far this year, Douglas County made 140 DUI arrests. Last year, there were 407, and in 2023, 381. Looking at the demographics, in the last three years, 70% of the arrests are men and 52% are county residents.
“Our stats are actually going up. We are arresting more people every year for DUIs,” Weekly said. “It’s not going down. So, it should just goes to show that we are out there.”
Starting Friday, Douglas County will launch summertime saturation patrols.
“We’ll have a lot more deputies out there on the street,” Weekly said. “Our SROS when they’re not in school, they’re out there on the streets and they’re looking for parties, kids drinking, underage people drinking and driving. So, we use those additional deputy sheriffs out there into the community to ensure that our kids are safe and our community is safe.”
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