Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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September 3, 2009

Officers out in full force ahead of holiday weekend

By GREG JORDAN

PRINCETON — Checking for driving under the influence and other violations started before the Labor Day rush Thursday as multiple law enforcement agencies conducted border to border traffic checks in Mercer, Tazewell, Giles, Bland and other counties of southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia.

“We had 1,261 (vehicles) checked,” said Deputy A.M. Ballard of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. Officers checked not only for DUI, but looked at drivers licenses and vehicle registrations for violations.

Checkpoints were set up at the East River Mountain Overlook border between Mercer and Bland counties, the U.S Route 460 section of the Mercer and Tazewell County border, and the Route 460 border with Mercer and Giles counties.

“We checked practically every vehicle that came through,” Ballard said. “Once or twice we had to send some through because they were backed up way outside the (traffic) cones.”

Each vehicle’s licensing and paperwork were checked.

“Pretty much we stopped nearly every vehicle and whenever they would come up, we’d speak with them and ask them for their insurance, driver’s license and registration,” Ballard said.

Drivers who were unable to produce their documentation were pulled to one side until they could find their paperwork. Ones who could not find it were issued a warning or a citation, he said.

Most tickets and warnings were issued for non-moving violations such as no proof of insurance, but at least one more serious violation was detected during the stops.

“Giles County got a DUI about the time they were packing up their equipment,” Ballard said. The Giles County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia State Police were staffing the checkpoint.

Agencies participating in Thursday’s checkpoints included the Princeton Police Department, Bluefield Police Department, Bluefield, Va. Police Department, Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department, Bland County Sheriff’s Department, West Virginia State Police and the Concord University Police Department.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com

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