Local Man Drives Through DUI Checkpoint After Being Told to Stop, Assaults Officers Who Catch Up

Police arrested a driver they allege was intoxicated after he drove through a checkpoint Friday night then struggled with officers who caught up with him and tried to detain him.

The checkpoint took place in the evening hours at Fair Oaks Avenue and Walnut Street. It was the second of two California Office of Traffic Safety grant-funded programs mounted by Pasadena police on Feb. 25th.

Earlier that day officers concentrated on locations throughout the city where dangerous violations such as speeding, red light violations, right of way violations, and other offenses regularly take place.

115 citations were issued during that portion of the day’s heightened traffic enforcement.

The evening checkpoint was specifically aimed at locating drivers under the influence.

At 10:07 p.m., a vehicle approached the checkpoint but after the driver was told to stop he continued driving north, police said.

“Officers were able to catch up to the vehicle as [the driver] parked and exited [near] La Pintoresca Drive and Claremont Street,” said Lt. Marcia Taglioretti. “The driver … attempted to avoid the detention by physical force. So officers overcame his resistance and detained him.”

The driver exhibited signs of intoxication, Taglioretti said. He was arrested for felony resisting and DUI.

Police identified the suspect as 45-year-old Pasadena resident Albert Torres.

A police officer was scratched on the face during the incident, Taglioretti said, but the injury was not serious.

Torres was booked in the city jail for assaulting a police officer and DUI. Booking records show Torres was transferred to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s dept. Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles and remains behind bars on a $25,000 bond.

In total, there were four arrests for DUI at the checkpoint, according to Commander Mark Goodman.