Yuma police add patrols, urge safe rides home for Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo celebrations across Yuma came with a clear warning from police: plan a safe ride home or risk ending the night with a DUI arrest, a traffic stop, or worse. Officers said extra patrols were in place as residents gathered at homes, restaurants and events around the city on May 5, when the holiday honoring the Battle of Puebla drew people out after dark.

Hayato Johnson said drivers who drink should not get behind the wheel and should instead use a designated driver or a rideshare service such as Uber or Lyft. He also urged sober drivers to stay alert for erratic vehicles, because one bad decision on the road can quickly create a dangerous scene for everyone nearby. In Arizona, drivers 21 and older can face a DUI charge if their blood alcohol concentration is above 0.08%, while commercial drivers face lower limits and drivers under 21 are held to zero tolerance.

The added patrols fit a pattern Yuma has seen before. Police carried out a Cinco de Mayo impaired-driving detail from Friday, May 3, through Sunday, May 5, in 2024, and a similar detail in 2023. A downtown Cinco de Mayo pub crawl in 2024, which began at Prison Hill Brewing Company and ended at Jimmy Dee’s with stops along Main Street, showed why enforcement often tightens around the holiday, especially where people move between parties, bars and late-night events.

The public-safety message also carries broader weight beyond one night in Yuma. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says about 32 people die every day in drunk-driving crashes in the United States, and it reported 11,904 alcohol-impaired-driving deaths in 2024. Those numbers underscore the stakes for families heading home after celebrations in Yuma County, where a short trip can turn into an arrest, a crash or a life-changing injury in seconds.

The holiday itself traces back to Mexico’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, a date remembered widely in Mexican American communities. In Yuma, where Cinco de Mayo brings celebrations both indoors and out in the community, police said the goal is to keep the night festive without adding another preventable emergency call. Thomas Garrity, selected as Yuma’s police chief in December 2022 after more than 32 years in law enforcement and public safety, has overseen that kind of visible enforcement approach as part of the department’s broader traffic and community-safety push.