23 Arrested In New Year's Crackdown On Palisades Parkway: Police

Nearly two dozen people were arrested in the hours immediately preceding and after the new year due to "proactive" police work, the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department announced Thursday.

From 7 p.m. Dec. 30 to 6 p.m. Monday, officers arrested 15 people on narcotics-related charges and seven for driving while intoxicated. Five of the seven DWI arrests were made from 2 to 5 a.m. Dec. 31, police said. Police also issued 240 traffic violations.

One man, Ruben Velazquez, 50, of New York, New York, was arrested on weapons charges after police found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun on him, authorities said.

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