23 April 2013, The California Chapter of Mothers Again Drug
Driving (MADD) and California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), held their
annual DUI Recognition and DUI Training Seminar and award ceremony in
Ripon.
The mission of MADD is to stop drunk driving, support the
victims of this violent crime and prevent underage drinking. The Mission
of the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) strives to eliminate
traffic deaths and injuries. It does this by making available grants to
local and State public agencies for programs that help enforce traffic
laws, educate the public in traffic safety, and provide varied and
effective means of reducing fatalities, injuries and economic losses
from collisions.
The Sonora Police Department and the Jamestown Office of the
California Highway Patrol work closely with each other and with both
organizations to help reduce the amount of traffic fatalities related to
drunk and drug driving in Tuolumne County.
Part of the event is to recognize and honor those Officers who
were exemplarily in DUI enforcement in their agencies during 2012, in
the Counties of Amador, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tuolumne.
During 2012, those who were honored at the ceremony made a total of
5,025 arrests.
During the event, an Officer from the Sonora Police Department
and five Officers from the Jamestown Office of the California Highway
Patrol were recognized for their outstanding work and personal attempts
to reduce the DUI fatality rate in Tuolumne County. To be honored, each
Officer had to make 25 or more arrests for DUI during 2012. The Officers
honored were;
Officer Andrew Theodore Sonora Police Department
Officer Eli Dillon ID 16812 California Highway Patrol
Officer Michael Huddleston, ID 18965 California Highway Patrol
Officer Steve Machado, ID 19785 California Highway Patrol
Officer Steve Warzee, ID 19297 California Highway Patrol
Officer Joshua Mahaney, ID 19773 California Highway Patrol
All the above listed Officers will be honored again at the State
recognition dinner, which will be held in Sacramento. The Sonora Police
Department would like to congratulate and thank those named above for
making our community a safer place.
The ceremony was held in the memory of Destanee Little.
Destanee was an 18 year old San Joaquin Delta College student who was
studying criminal justice and wanted to become a police officer. She was
killed when a repeated drunk driver rear-ended her vehicle doing
between 95 and 109 miles per hour. Destanee was ejected from her car and
died at the scene. Her two passengers sustained major injuries as well.
The driver who struck Destanee’s vehicle was sentenced to 48 years to
life for second degree murder and a second strike.
