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GREENE COUNTY --  Eight people were arrested Friday night on suspicion of driving drunk.      It was all part of a DWI checkpoint in Greene County where deputies stopped 119 vehicles.     The sheriff's office said the enforcement on Farm Road 163 was also observed by some Missouri State students as part of a school project. In addition to the eight arrests for driving while intoxicated, several others were arrested for various offenses including possession of marijuana.

SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield police will be out in force this holiday weekend for a DWI checkpoint.    Officers have not said where or when the checkpoint will happen, but they did say the operation will comprise of about 20 to 25 police officers looking for drunk drivers.     Law enforcers said if you haven't been drinking and you have a valid drivers license, you shouldn't be delayed any longer than a few minutes.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A new survey finds as many as 30 million Americans drive drunk every year.  With the holiday season traditionally comes a spike in DWI violations.  Now, some local agencies are changing their proactive approach. The Missouri State Highway Patrol , Greene County Sheriff's Department and Springfield Police Department try be more like fire preventers rather than firefighters when it comes to people who drive impaired; they'd rather educate than arrest.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Springfield police cracked down on people suspected of drunk driving on Super Bowl Sunday, making four arrests of people suspected of driving under the influence. In a news release, spokesperson Cora Scott said one of the arrests also resulted in a marijuana possession charge. Names of those arrested weren't immediately released. Further details are expected Tuesday.

GREENE COUNTY, Mo. -- It started as a good idea, taking some backroads to get to their Thanksgiving feast a little faster.  But what started as a shortcut ended in two women sitting on their car. "We just kept going farther and farther and we ended up sinking and I thought we were going to die because it was going so deep. You could feel the wheels lift up. " She and the other passengers were able to get out. Two swam to shore but she and one other stayed on the roof of the car for the next hour.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- One man and two women were injured after a crash at the end of a police chase that started in north Springfield early Wednesday.  It started around 1:30 a.m. on Commercial Street at Weller Avenue.  It continued onto Interstate 44, then onto Chestnut Expressway before the driver crashed into a concrete barrier at Park Central Square about an hour later. Police say they tried to pull over the driver on suspicion of drunken driving.  They say speeds reached as high as 90 mph on the interstate and averaged around 50 mph in the city.  Greene County sheriff's deputy was also involved in the pursuit.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A guilty plea from a northwest Arkansas woman charged with negligent homicide following a drunk driving crash. Dorothy Hill was sentenced to 40-years in prison, but 22 of those years are suspended as part of the plea agreement. The incident occurred last May on I-540. Hill had a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit when she crashed head-on into Kathleen Mellinger's, 26, car outside of Fayetteville. Mellinger's passenger, Sean Mabrey, died at the scene; Mellinger died three days later.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo -- An arrest for driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs can have significant adverse consequences on a person's life. There are both serious criminal and serious civil ramifications that individuals will experience upon arrest and most certainly upon conviction. Additionally, DWIs and traffic tickets can increase your insurance rates and if sufficient points accumulate, a person's privilege to drive may be suspended or revoked. Call (417) 268-3222 on Wednesday, June 18, from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. for free legal advice on the subject.

CASSVILLE, Mo. -- A teenager from Purdy pleaded guilty on Wednesday for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed her friend two years ago.  Sierra Wood, 19, was scheduled to go on trial on Wednesday morning for involuntary manslaughter but she entered the guilty plea before opening arguments began. Wood admitted she was driving drunk when her car ran off Missouri 76 near Cassville.  The vehicle flipped, killing Jessica Pettengill, 17, of Fairview. Wood's sentencing is scheduled in June.  She could get a prison sentence of up to seven years for first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

BERRYVILLE, Ark. -- Berryville School District Superintendent Randy Byrd recalls the moment on Oct. 1 when he arrived at the scene of a crash involving one of his district's buses. “I would have pretty much guessed we would have had some fatalities, looking at the accident,” he said. He'd been informed it wasn't a worst-case scenario.  Still, nine students and two teachers were injured after their field trip ended with their bus careening off U.S. 62 west of Pyatt.

GREENE COUNTY --  Eight people were arrested Friday night on suspicion of driving drunk.      It was all part of a DWI checkpoint in Greene County where deputies stopped 119 vehicles.     The sheriff's office said the enforcement on Farm Road 163 was also observed by some Missouri State students as part of a school project. In addition to the eight arrests for driving while intoxicated, several others were arrested for various offenses including possession of marijuana.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The man who Greene County sheriff's deputies say led them on a chase through Springfield on Thursday now faces new charges.  The sheriff's department says Michael Riemer, 25, was charged on Friday with two counts of resisting a lawful stop, two counts of possession of methamphetamine, and one count of receiving stolen property. The department says one charge of resisting a stop and one charge of meth possession stem from a pursuit by deputies in January 2012; the other meth charge is for a violation in March 2012 that stems from a Springfield Police Department investigation; and the other charge of resisting a stop and receiving stolen property stem from the chase on Thursday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A chase that snaked across Springfield on Thursday afternoon ended when law enforcement officers arrested the driver at a hotel.  The sheriff says the chase reached speeds as high as 70mph. Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott says the chase began when his deputies tried to serve a felony arrest warrant in the 2500 block of North Ramsey Avenue.  Michael Riemer, 25, took off after the attempted traffic stop and led deputies throughout the city.  Arnott said Riemer is also wanted for questioning about a homicide in Greene County, which he wouldn't identify.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Springfield police cracked down on people suspected of drunk driving on Super Bowl Sunday, making four arrests of people suspected of driving under the influence. In a news release, spokesperson Cora Scott said one of the arrests also resulted in a marijuana possession charge. Names of those arrested weren't immediately released. Further details are expected Tuesday.

META, Mo.-- During the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 18, members of the Maries County Sheriff's Office responded to Highway 52 near Meta for an intoxicated driver passed out in the middle of the roadway.  Upon arrival members of the Sheriff's Office observed that the driver of the vehicle was passed out, with his foot on the brake, and the vehicle in gear.  The driver would not wake up, and Deputies were required to use a lock-out kit to...

SPRINGFIELD --  Springfield police had extra officers on duty Friday night for DWI enforcement at Harrison Street and Jefferson Avenue in downtown Springfield.      Police stopped 42 vehicles and 12 people were arrested for impaired driving. Additional arrests were made for drug possession and minors in possession.

SPRINGFIELD -- The Springfield police will be out in force this holiday weekend for a DWI checkpoint.    Officers have not said where or when the checkpoint will happen, but they did say the operation will comprise of about 20 to 25 police officers looking for drunk drivers.     Law enforcers said if you haven't been drinking and you have a valid drivers license, you shouldn't be delayed any longer than a few minutes.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo -- An arrest for driving while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs can have significant adverse consequences on a person's life. There are both serious criminal and serious civil ramifications that individuals will experience upon arrest and most certainly upon conviction. Additionally, DWIs and traffic tickets can increase your insurance rates and if sufficient points accumulate, a person's privilege to drive may be suspended or revoked. Call (417) 268-3222 on Wednesday, June 18, from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. for free legal advice on the subject.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  -- A man from Springfield received a 12-year prison sentence for the death of a woman in a drunken driving crash nearly two years ago.  Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson says Matthew Brannon, 32, will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Brannon pleaded guilty in April for involuntary manslaughter for killing Kathryn Wells, 55, on Oct. 16, 2010.  Brannon was driving a car that collided with Wells' car at the intersection of Mt. Vernon Street at Kansas Expressway.  Wells' car hit a light pole and burst into flames, killing her at the scene.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A man who briefly held officers at bay from a house on South Robberson Avenue on Sunday afternoon now is charged with stealing a car and trying to steal another car.  Police say Jimmy Hayes, 32, used a handgun to commit both crimes, so he also faces two charges of armed criminal action. Hayes also faces charges in Christian County, where the prosecutor charged him as Cecil Hayes.  Springfield police say Cecil Hayes is an alias for Jimmy Hayes. Hayes is charged in Christian County with illegally firing a gun, resisting arrest, first-degree property damage, assaulting an officer, and armed criminal action.  Ozark police say Hayes fled on foot after an officer tried to stop him early Sunday on suspicion of drunken driving.  While he was fleeing, the officer said, Hayes fired a shot at him. The probable cause statement used as the basis of the charges in Greene County says police used Hayes' cellular telephone records to track him to Springfield on Sunday afternoon, 12 hours after he fled in Ozark.  Shortly before the standoff, a driver reported someone matching Hayes' description pointed a gun at him and demanded he surrender his car.  The driver refused to do so. Then, an employee of the Walmart store on South Campbell Avenue says she was in her car in the parking lot when a man pointed a gun at her and demanded money and her car keys.   The employee fled and the man drove away in her car. Police say they found...