Middletown Officers To Participate In Weekend DUI Checkpoint

Officers from Middletown and Penndel will be participating in a weekend checkpoint by the Bucks County DUI Task Force. The checkpoint will be held Friday night into Saturday morning along the Newtown Bypass from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., officials with the Bucks County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.

Twenty-one officers from nine municipal police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police will be operating the checkpoint. Participating municipal departments include Bensalem, Doylestown, Middletown, Newtown, Tinicum, Warrington and Warwick Townships, and Penndel and Quakertown Boroughs.

This weekend's enforcement will be the countywide task force's first DUI checkpoint since March 17-18, St. Patrick's Day, when police arrested nine drivers for DUI along Route 611 in Warrington Township, the District Attorney's Office said.

"The week of July 4th is a great time to celebrate our country's independence with family and friends," said District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub. "Please celebrate responsibly. Don't drink or do drugs and drive."

While enforcement by some departments was increased on July 4 itself, statistics show that weekends preceding and following weekday holidays can be just as deadly, the District Attorney's Office said.

In 2016, there were 208 alcohol-related crashes in Pennsylvania during the weekends before and after July 4. Seven people died in those crashes, PennDOT reported, in addition to six fatalities on the weekday holiday itself.