DWI arrests in San Antonio up nearly 20% since 2020

Drunk driving arrests in San Antonio are up nearly 20% over the past three years, according to a recent KSAT report citing data from the San Antonio Police Department.

What’s more, the Alamo City is on pace to eclipse the number of DWI arrests last year, with 54 drunk driving arrests over the Fourth of July Holiday weekend alone, the TV station reports.

The number of DWI arrests spiked 18.8% over the past three years, jumping from 3,699 in 2020 to 4,394 in 2022, according to SAPD data. During the first half of 2023, SAPD has arrested 2,394 people on suspicion of DWI.

Word of the rising number of DWI cases in San Antonio comes after a slew of high-profile drunk driving arrests, including those of now former District 10 councilman Clayton Perry, former KSAT sports anchor Greg Simmons, and San Antonio daytime show host Esteban Solis.

Following an Express-News investigation on the lenient sentencing of repeat offenders, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales pledged in December to impose new restrictions on DWI plea bargaining and impose harsher penalties on repeat offenders.

San Antonio has been ranked among the U.S. cities with the highest rate of drunk driving in recent years. It landed as the nation’s fourth-worst city for DWI cases in a study published by the website BuyAutoInsurance.

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This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 11, 2023.