South Daytona plans DUI checkpoint Friday along Nova
By LYDA LONGA
Staff Writer
Getting rip-roaring drunk the first night of Bike Week may not be such a good idea.
Because if you're driving through South Daytona, you may end up getting arrested for drunken driving, and donating your DNA.
South Daytona police, with the help of a few other agencies, will be conducting a DUI checkpoint for southbound traffic on Nova Road across from Reed Canal Park on Friday night and Saturday morning between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., police said.
Lt. Ron Wright said officers at the scene may stop every third or fifth vehicle that rolls through, along with anyone who looks impaired.
But because South Daytona is helping Daytona Beach police in its efforts to find a serial killer, who has murdered four women, officers will ask anyone they arrest whether they're willing to give their DNA. That would involve the officer swabbing the inside of the person's cheek.
"We'll of course ask them if they'll voluntarily give us their DNA," Wright said.
The DUI checkpoint will be on Nova Road because many locals take that thoroughfare "as a back road."
"They think we're all on U.S. 1, so they take Nova," Wright said chuckling. "We'll be at both."
The Nova Road location will also come in handy for police because there's a bottle club -- the Daytona Club -- a block away, Wright said.
Another reason for the Nova location is the six fatalities that occurred along that stretch last year, Wright said.
"We want people to know that we're going to be there," Wright said.
South Daytona Police Chief Bill Hall said scheduling the checkpoint the first night of Bike Week was purely coincidental. The department stages a DUI checkpoint every month, as required by a $21,000 Department of Transportation grant given to police, Wright said. The checkpoints are done annually, starting in March.
Whether coincidental or not, the idea of a DUI checkpoint does not sit well with Eddie Colosimo of Holly Hill, local president of Bikers for First Amendment Rights. Colosimo said he'll warn club members about Friday's checkpoint.
"They have to have probable cause to search someone," Colosimo said.
Colosimo also voiced concern about the voluntary DNA swabbing.
While Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood has said DNA collected from people will be destroyed once it's tested by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee, Colosimo said he's not so sure he trusts the authorities to do away with the genetic evidence.
