Possibly still crestfallen over the Niners' NFC loss, 22-year-old rookie defensive end Aldon Smith was arrested on DUI charges Saturday morning in Miami. According to the Sacramento Bee, the wasted 49er was swerving in and out of lanes causing other drivers to brake to avoid hitting Smith's red Mercedez. more ›

A 42-year-old man was shot and killed by a police officer during a routine traffic stop Saturday night around 9:45 p.m. in Santa Clara. The policeman, a 2-year veteran of the force, pulled the man over on suspicion of a DUI on the 2400 block of Karen Drive. As the Chron reports, the cop said the man became uncooperative, and the cop called for backup. Then the suspect reached for a loaded revolver, and the cop shot him in self-defense. He was pronounced dead at the scene. more ›

Last night around 12:30 a.m, a GMC van reportedly traveling at 80 miles per hour through SOMA T-boned a Dodge Charger carrying six unbuckled passengers at the intersection of Tenth and Howard. CBS5 reports the van allegedly ran a red light before slamming in to the Dodge. Police suspect both drivers were under the influence at the time and a "large quantity of cocaine" was found in the van, which may have also been involved in an earlier hit-and-run incident less than ten minutes earlier in SFPD's Northern District. more ›

Ryan, the 9-year-old boy who was hit by a drunk driver in SoMa last Thursday has been steadily improving at SF General Hospital. Ryan, who was in town with his family for a baseball game, suffered a traumatic brain injury and a lacerated liver, as well as fractures in his pelvis, left leg and ankle when Hayward Resident Andrew Vargas allegedly hit him on Mission Street. Ryan's condition has been upgraded from critical to serious as he begun speaking again. more ›

Drunk drivers. They're the scum on the Earth, right? Right. Well, what about if you're a drunk driver who gets in a car with your daughter and then crashes into a fire house? You make for a good news story, that's what. Lasheena Cardona, 36, was behind the wheel of a big ol' GMC Yukon on Monday night "when it slammed into the front of station No. 27 at 1801 DeAnza Blvd." more ›

It looks like the sobriety checkpoint the San Francisco Police Department set up in the Marina over the four-day weekend was a successful one. Thirty DUI arrests were made throughout the city, and there were no fatalities. more ›

Drunk drivers are deplorable. Yes, we know. As Captain Casciato, SFPD's chairman of DUI crackdowns, put it in his media release for this weekend's sobriety checkpoints: "even drunk drivers hate drunk drivers." So unless you want to be completely ostracized (or worse), kindly arrange for sober alternative transport to and from your holiday weekend festivities. Once you've got your DD situation taken care of, let him or her know they can expect a bit of traffic around the sobriety checkpoint at Lombard and Divisadero where SFPD will be in place all weekend long — from Friday evening until early Monday morning — stopping anyone heading out of the city after their Crissy Field barbecues or Marina rooftop ragers. [SFAppeal] more ›

The abundance of citizen journalists (heh) is one of the many reasons we love San Francisco. So imagine our delight when sharp-tongued local photoblogger The Tens caught an Alamo Square neighbor "John" (not his real name, we presume) taking the junker pictured here out for a drunken joyride yesterday evening. Tens fills us in on the story, which you won't find in today's Examiner: more ›

Gee, this is harrowing. Two fools who crashed into each other over the weekend were allegedly both drunk while riding their preferred modes. "Jose Luna, 40, of Redwood City was turning from northbound El Camino Real onto Berkshire Avenue in his Ford F-150 pickup truck when he struck bicyclist Alejandro Chavez, 31, of Redwood City at about 11 p.m. Saturday," reports SFGate. "Chavez, who had been riding against traffic while pedaling in a northbound lane, suffered a broken back and leg." Both were reportedly smashed, if you will, at the time of impact. Oy. [SFGate] more ›

With the holiday weekend in front of us, traffic cops and highway patrollers are gearing up to give you a citation for pretty much any stupid thing you can do behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. The Snitch reports SFPD will be setting up a sobriety checkpoint at the Embarcadero and Washington Street tonight to catch the post-happy hour crowd and the late night club commuters. more ›

We don't need to tell you that driving drunk is a terrible idea. It's the number one worst idea ever. Worse than the idea behind that Tool Academy show. Now remember that tomorrow night, when you're out at the Stonestown Galleria, pouring back too many cadillac margaritas at Chevy's Fresh Mex. According to the Appeal: "this Friday, April 22 starting at 8:30 PM, a sobriety checkpoint will be set up at 19th Ave. and Winston Dr. right by the Stonestown Galleria. The checkpoint runs til early morning the next day." Hey, that's within two blocks of three Muni bus lines and some light rail. Why don't you just let them drive you home? [Appeal] more ›

SFPD has alerted the media that they'll be setting up a DUI checkpoint out in this Richmond this Saturday night at Geary Blvd and 9th Ave. There's always a tiny moral quandary whenever we post these announcements, but if you absolutely must venture to or from the avenues to get hammered tomorrow night, why don't you just take the 38 instead? It'll be an adventure. more ›

During last weekend's tribute to Christ's birth, many people were pinched for driving while smashed. BCN (via SF Appeal) reports: "In the period spanning from 6 p.m. Dec. 24 through midnight on Dec. 26, Bay Area CHP officers made 115 DUI arrests, down from 195 for the same period last year." Around the state, officers arrested 658 drivers for driving while blotto, "a drop from the 1104 arrests for the same period in 2009." [Appeal] more ›

We're coming in to the thick of the Holiday season here (or perhaps more accurately: Holiday Party Season) and the authorities in San Francisco will be celebrating accordingly with their traditional 17 day crackdown on drinking and driving around the city. According to the Appeal, cops expect to rack up something like 100 DUI arrests at sobriety checkpoints around town between tonight and January 2nd. more ›

Well, it looks like we spoke too soon. Just when we thought our faith had been restored in humanity's ability to resist getting plastered and speeding home in their death monsters, a bunch of people had to go and do just that to prove us wrong. more ›

Way to go, Bay Area! According to early CHP data, the number of drunk drivers arrested at the start of the holiday weekend is fewer than last year's numbers, although barely. Bay City News reports that between the 12 CHP stations in the Bay Area, 45 intoxicated drivers were arrested in the 12 hour period between Wednesday evening and Thanksgiving morning. more ›

Artist Thomas Kinkade arrested for DUI. more ›

Doing something pretty much all of our friends whose hippie parents did to them back in the day, a Marin couple was arrested for allowing a 13-year-old boy to drive them home in order to avoid another DUI. more ›

Are Kulbir Dhaliwal, 25, and Amritpal "Paul" Dhaliwal, 21, the two brothers involved in the 2007 tiger mauling for which they recently received a $900K settlement, crying out for attention, are they just plain old stupid, or both? Just a couple of weeks ago, Kulbir Dhaliwal was arrested for alleged possession of 3 grams of cocaine on July 22, while riding in the car of Tarlok Dhaliwal, 26, who has since been confirmed as the third infamous brother and who was initially pulled over in the July incident for driving the wrong way on a one-way street near the San Jose campus and was arrested for suspicion of being under the influence. more ›

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We're a little late to this story, in part because we spent all day yesterday trying to separate out the hilarious comments from the offensive ones on SFGate.com (it looks like the homophobic ones have already been taken out as of today) -- but in a nutshell, last Friday, Lance Farber, the 47-year-old boyfriend of the city's new planning director John Rahaim trashed their temporary apartment, which the city put them up in and which is located in the ceremonial fire chief's house in downtown SF. more ›

On Sunday morning Gary Cloutier, 45, (the gay one!) spent several hours in jail after being arrested for public intoxication in Palm Spring, CA. But he didn't just have a few sips of an appletini. It seems that the mayor wannabe was "staggering and could barely stand," according to CBS 5, after cops found him in his car, freshly sloshed after leaving a Palm Springs bar. (And it's not even White Party season!) more ›

[sorry we're late today!] more ›

-- The al fresco SF Mayoral race debate, featuring full frontal. Gosh. What madcap wackiness will they unload on us next? [SFBG] more ›

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles. more ›

We can't really get ourselves too worked up about the billboards or campaign finance allegations that Mark Leno's tossing around about his rival for the State Senate seat, Carole Migden (sorry) -- but we certainly do pay attention to her reckless-driving woes! The Solano County DA has decided to charge Migden with a misdemeanor based on her wild lane-changing and fender-bending ways from earlier this year. Like Paris Hilton, only without the DUI or the wonky eye! more ›

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! more ›

Here's todays sports wrap up more ›

-Cal just runs crazy over Texas A&M and beats them 45-10 as Marhshawn Lynch led the way with 111 yards and two TDs. Ray Ratto is impressed. But can Cal bring Lynch back? more ›

We got two (two!) stories today about weird little traffic related mayhem. more ›