Task force checks
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 26, 2016 10:13 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Christopher Gustafson performs a field sobriety test on a driver at the intersection of U.S. 70 and Berkeley Boulevard on Friday, Sept. 17. During a search of the car Gustafson found drug paraphernalia and the driver was issued a citation.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Christopher Gustafson checks the license of a man at a checkpoint set up at the intersection of U.S. 117 Alternate and Northeast Church Road on Friday, Sept. 17.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Jonathan Batchelor demonstrates a portion of a field sobriety test to a driver that was pulled over for suspected intoxication. The man was later cited with driving while intoxicated.
On an unassuming intersection of road just outside of Mount Olive, coming into view just as cars travel out of the long, low-slung curve in the road -- sits a DWI check point that's been set up by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office DWI Task Force.
It's Friday, Sept.16. The DWI Task Force has set up a check point at the intersection of Northeast Church Road and U.S. 117 Alternate.
"This is a busy area," said DWI Task Force Sgt. Jayson Hill. "There are several restaurants and an ABC Store near here, so that's why we picked this spot."
During several check points leading up to the one on this night, cars have fled the check point, which resulted in high speed chases across the city and county.
Just the night before, one man pulled up to a check point at Patetown Road and Alpha Court, slowed down, then reportedly sped through the check point, threw a gun out of the window, led officers on a short chase before crashing his car into a telephone pole and fleeing on foot.
Another man fled a check point the week before that was set up at the intersection of Elm Street and Center Street in downtown Goldsboro.
That man, who has not been identified by authorities and is still at large, led sheriff's deputies, Goldsboro police officers and North Carolina Highway Patrolmen on a high speed chase that spanned 15 miles of the city and county and ended when he wrecked near 575 Durham Lake Road. He also fled on foot.
Hill said the grant that funded the task force stipulates that the team does 12 DWI check points per quarter, six during the day and six at night.
At the check point on September 16, Hill said three people were charged with driving while license revoked, three were charged with no operators license and one person was charged with expired registration.
Hill said the task force picks its check point locations by looking at a crash map of the city and county, and targeting the areas that have the highest number of alcohol-related incidents.
"We try and go anywhere alcohol is sold -- bars, clubs, ABC stores," Hill said. "We set up our check points in those high traffic areas."
October 1 marked the one year anniversary of the DWI Task Force, which was funded by a federal grant distributed by the North Carolina Governor's Highway Safety Program.
Hill said in addition to the DWI check points conducted by the task force, they also operate in saturation patrols in areas of the city.
"If the road is in Wayne County, I can go on it," Hill said. "There's nowhere we can't do our jobs."
The task force is comprised of Hill and three other deputies -- Jonathan Batchelor, Christopher Gustafson and Matthew Sellers.
Following the check point, the team begins stopping people left and right doing regular patrols.
At one point, Hill called Sellers a "car stopping machine," when Sellers finished a traffic stop on U.S. 70 East, and then immediately stopped another car that passed him without moving over and slowing down, as required by state law when officers are pulled off the side of the road.
Hill, himself, also had several stops that Friday night.
On U.S. 117 at Old Mount Olive Highway, Hill stopped a white Ford Ranger that sped past him far over 55 miles per hour.
"I drive an unmarked car, so people think it's a soccer mom car and never think about it being a law enforcement officer," Hill said.
The Ford Ranger is stopped under an electronic billboard oscillating between several ads, one of which is for Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump.
The truck has a "Hillary for Prison" sticker on the back windshield, as well as an "I Love Yoga Pants" sticker.
Hill returns from speaking with the driver of the truck.
He's holding a bag of marijuana.
Hill cites the driver for possession of marijuana and speeding, and is on to continue his patrol for the evening.
Near closing time for the bars around town, Hill, his crew and several North Carolina highway Patrolmen begin buzzing past the bars.
Hill said the goal in doing that is not to target any certain bars, but to keep drunk drivers off the road that would, logically, be coming from places that sell alcohol.
Thus far, the team has seen success in the way it operates.
Hill said the DWI task force has conducted approximately 2,100 traffic stops since its creation, which has resulted in 211 DWI charges alongside a multitude of others. Roughly half of all traffic stops by the task force result in citations, Hill said. So far, 24 vehicles have been seized in a year because of the driver being charged with DWI.
"That averages out to every tenth car being impaired that's on the road in Wayne County," Hill said. "We stop cars for any traffic infraction or violation and it's our job to get them off the road if they are impaired."