Police arrest 27 for suspected DUI

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Big Island police arrested 27 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant between Oct. 12 and Sunday. Five of the drivers were involved in traffic crashes.

Big Island police arrested 27 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence of an intoxicant between Oct. 12 and Sunday. Five of the drivers were involved in traffic crashes.

Officers have arrested 849 people since the start of 2015, compared with 923 at this time in 2014, according to the Hawaii Police Department.

South Hilo officers arrested 10 drivers while Kona officers arrested nine, according to police. Four motorists were arrested in Puna, three in South Kohala and one in Hamakua.

There have been 1,215 major accidents so far this year compared with 1,259 during the same period last year, a decrease of 3.5 percent.

The island has seen 16 traffic fatalities so far this year, up from 10 at this time last year. That is an increase of 60 percent. Five fatalities were related to drugs and four were the result of drugs and alcohol use.