SAN ANTONIO – As the song goes, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. And during Fiesta, the drinking apparently starts at noon.
Law enforcement is as strong as the beer this first Fiesta weekend. And the arrest numbers reflect it: Since Thursday, 173 people were jailed for drinking and driving; 83 of those drivers required blood draws.
“Make an alternate plan. Call a cab,” said Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed.
Reed said the DWI arrests in just 4-days is already more than half of all of last year’s Fiesta, which saw 339 people put behind bars.
Police say maybe the higher numbers in 2012 may be because of stricter enforcement, or that the message hasn’t sunken into the minds of Fiesta-goers.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said that could prove deadly.
“I think we’ve been fortunate, because anyone of those folks that’s been arrested for DWI could cause a fatal accident,” McManus said.
