Three people charged during police drink-drive clampdown

Ashton Woolley, 26, was arrested at 9.15pm on December 5, in The Street, Rustington, after officers saw him driving erratically on the A259, a police source said today (Monday, December 8).

Woolley, of Lavinia Way, East Preston, was charged with drink-driving and released on bail to appear at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on 29 January.

Woolley is just the latest of 14 people to have been charged during the Christmas crackdown.

Others include Eduardo Ventura, 42, of Hawthorne Gardens, Worthing.

He arrested at 12.10am on December 6 after officers saw him speeding on the A27 in a van at Arundel, police said.

Ventura was charged with drink-driving and driving without a licence and was released on bail to appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on December 16.

Earlier this month, Nikolajs Zenovjevs, 27, of Linden Road, Littlehampton, charged with drink-driving and driving without a licence.

He was arrested at 7.55am on December 3, in Arundel Road, Fontwell, after officers saw an open can of alcohol on the dashboard of his red Audi A6 and suspected he could be drink-driving, a police spokesman said.

Zenovjevs was released on bail to appear at Worthing Magistrates’ Court on January 27.

So far a total of 20 people have now been charged with offences as part of campaign to clampdown of on drink and drug-driving.

For the first time, the December effort is being run jointly by Sussex Police and Surrey Police alongside Sussex Safer Roads Partnership, Drive Smart in Surrey and the independent charity Crimestoppers.

As part of Operation Dragonfly – Sussex Police’s year-round strategy to remove drink and drug-drivers from the streets – road policing unit officers are on dedicated patrols looking for offenders.

Teams will also respond to tip-offs from members of the public who see someone they know has been drinking getting into a car to drive.

People in Sussex can text officers on 65999 with the details of people they suspect of drink or drug driving or visit www.operationcrackdown.co.uk.

They can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

To keep up to date with officers looking for drink drivers, follow #opdragonfly on Twitter.

If you know someone is driving while over the limit or after taking drugs call 999.