Santa Rosa – Plainly clothed police officers participated in a sting operation at the Sonoma County Hall of Justice on Wednesday, August 27. Defendants facing charges of DUIs and suspended or unlicensed violations were monitored after they left the courthouse. If unlicensed and/or suspended drivers were seen getting behind the wheel of a vehicle, they were to be apprehended by patrol officers waiting nearby.
Although it was later learned that defense attorneys had been advising their clients as to the presence of undercover officers in the courtroom, the operation still resulted in one driver being arrested and cited. Michael Broder, 56, of Santa Rosa, was found to be driving on a suspended license. Border’s vehicle was also impounded for 30 days.
The operation was conducted as part of the 2014 Summer Mobilization Period that began Friday August 15 and will continue through September 1, 2014. Officers from Petaluma PD, Santa Rosa PD, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Cotati PD and the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety participated in the operation.
The purpose of the operation is to apprehend dangerous drivers and reduce alcohol related fatalities and injury collisions through increased enforcement and heightened public awareness. Funds for the campaign are made via grant(s) from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
