Interim Chief of the Portland Police Department  F. Heath Gorham said:  “This is Life-Saving Police Work.”

Between Friday, December 10th and Saturday, December 11th, Portland Police Offices charged four people with OUI within a span of three hours according to a press release issued today on the subject.

This included cases in which drivers crashed their vehicles, were speeding and nearly struck pedestrians, attempted to flee scenes and drove through red lights and block off construction areas.  The drivers were impaired by intoxicants such as alcohol and marijuana, or a combination of drugs.

“This is life-saving police work,” said Chief Heath Gorham.  “When our officers are responding to scenes that include wrong-way crashes and drivers leaving the scene of crashes, it speaks to how these types of enorcement actions are preventing injury and death – not only to the suspects themselves, but also to those whom they endanger by driving intoxicated.”

Those charged wih OUI were:  Jackman Webber-Gravier, Falmouth; Jaime A. Nunez, Jr, Westbrook; Theresa Butler, Portland and Mark Flavin, Old Orchard Beach.

The Portland Police Department has a certified drug recognition expert (DRE) on staff and continue to train officers in ARIDE training – Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement.  Experts advise that driving impaired while drunk or drugged is inherently dangerous to the driver and the public and is more dangerous when drivers are impaiced by multiple intoxicants.