IMPERIAL BEACH --One alcohol-related arrest led to another, and then another, early New Year's Day.It began about 1:15 a.m., when sheriff's deputies were called out to Elder Avenue and Third Street in Imperial Beach by a report that a man had just crashed into a car, said sheriff's Lt. Larry Nesbit.
The car's owner had gone outside and argued with the driver, who responded by punching her in the face, Nesbit said.
Deputies arrived and arrested the man on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and battery, the lieutenant said. The woman did not require medical treatment, Nesbit said. While deputies were taking that man into custody another man "staggered into the scene," Nesbit said. That man was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public.
Minutes later a third man, a friend of the man who had crashed, pulled up and loudly questioned the deputies about what they were doing, Nesbit said. Deputies determined he was also impaired and took him into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.