The North Idaho DUI Task Force reported a successful St. Patrick's Day operation, with 24 impaired drivers removed from local roadways over the holiday.

“Unfortunately, there were still four impairment-related DUI crashes that were investigated this weekend,” said Sgt. Justin Scotch, head of the ISP team on the task force. “One of which resulted in the driver being arrested for aggravated DUI because of injuries to another driver suffered during the collision. While some of our task force members were investigating this injury crash, another impaired driver entered the scene, collided with a Coeur d’Alene Police patrol vehicle, and nearly struck a tow operator who was diligently working to remove one of the vehicles involved in the collision.”

The impaired driver struck the patrol vehicle’s passenger side rear bumper with significant damage to the fender. The damage assessment and repair timeline is developing.

It’s not typical for a patrol vehicle to suffer damage during a targeted push, but it illustrates the importance of the mission to bring impaired-driving education, awareness and enforcement to our communities while working together to change and save lives, Scotch said.

The task force’s goal in any holiday push is zero injury or fatality crashes caused by a DUI. The task force also gathered for New Year’s and Super Bowl Sunday earlier this year to successfully reduce injury crashes during high risk times.

During the St. Patrick’s Day targeted task force, around 20 people from Idaho State Police, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office, Coeur d’Alene Police, Coeur d’Alene Tribal Police, Rathdrum Police and other agencies spanning the northern counties teamed up to issue a total of 38 DUI or possession-related offenses.

Statistically, a person will likely drive drunk between 60 and 80 times before they experience an incident, either an arrest or collision, said ISP Trooper Daniel Taylor, a drug recognition expert for the task force.

Following is a breakdown of offenses during the targeted push:

• DUI charges — 24

• Open container — 4

• Carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence — 1

• Possession of methamphetamine — 1

• Felony warrant — 1

• Driver’s license violations (misdemeanor) — 3

• Insurance violations (misdemeanor) — 1

• Marijuana/paraphernalia violations — 9

• Impairment related non-injury collisions — 3

• Impairment related injury collisions — 1