The Calvert County Sheriff’s Office conducted a Sobriety
Checkpoint along Maryland Route 260 between Rt. 778 and Thomas Avenue beginning
Friday, September 2nd at 11:09 p.m. and concluded it at 1:15 a.m. on
Saturday, September 3rd. Both
the eastbound and westbound traffic lanes were monitored during this
checkpoint.
There were 16 Calvert County Sheriff’s Office deputies and 1
Maryland State Trooper assigned to work the checkpoint. 412 motorists entered the sobriety checkpoint
and 11 were pulled to the side for testing or for probable cause searches based
on the odor of marijuana. There were 4 DUI arrests made during the checkpoint
operation and 5 arrests were made for controlled dangerous substance law
violations. Cpl. Moschetto made an additional arrest of an impaired driver
while travelling home after the checkpoint operation was completed.
The checkpoint operation was dedicated to the memory of Ofc.
Noah Leotta of the Montgomery County Police Department. Ofc.
Noah Leotta’s father, Rich Leotta addressed the deputies and trooper in
attendance at the briefing. Other members of Ofc. Leota’s family, who are
Calvert County residents, also attended the checkpoint. Ofc. Noah Leotta was struck by a drunk driver
in December of 2015 while conducting a traffic stop working holiday DUI
saturation patrol. Since his son’s death Rich Leotta and other family members
and organizations have been working diligently to get stiffer penalties for DUI
offenders. Noah’s Law, which governs interlock devices and takes effect October
1st, is a result of the efforts of Noah’s family, co-workers,
friends and organizations to crack down on impaired drivers.
