Here’s a news release issued by Pierce County today:

Law enforcement officers arrested 10 motorists for impaired driving

during their monthly emphasis Friday, Oct. 27. The Tacoma/Pierce County

DUI Task Force targeted Fife, Milton and the adjacent I-5 corridor as

part of the annual “Surround the Sound” traffic emphasis patrol that

included Pierce and nine other Western Washington counties.

“The area was filled with impaired drivers celebrating Halloween

early,” said Lt. Kevin Farris of the Fife Police Department, which

coordinated the special patrol in cooperation with the Washington State

Patrol.

An additional 98 citations were issued for other traffic safety

violations including aggressive driving and speeding. One driver was

arrested for possessing 135 grams of marijuana. The Washington State

Liquor Control Board, working with an underage operative and police

officers, wrote 11 citations for minors in possession, selling alcohol

to minors and allowing minors to frequent premises where alcohol was

served.

The emphasis patrol was dedicated to Phillip Schmolke, who was killed

by a drunk driver Nov. 21, 2004 while turning into his driveway on SR

702. Officers handed out flyers in memory of Schmolke to each motorist

they stopped. The victim had been active in his church and was a former

volunteer with the Eatonville Police Department.



“It’s impossible to know whether the 10 drivers we took off the

road would have hurt or killed someone Friday night, but we didn’t

give them the chance to find out,” said Gig Harbor Police Chief Mike

Davis, task force chair.

Participants included the Bonney Lake, Fife, Lakewood, Milton, Pacific,

Puyallup, Sumner, Tacoma, and University Place police departments, the

Washington State Patrol and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.