California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Lassig; Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Novak; Allison Pace, deputy district attorney of Riverside County, and Karen Kools, founder of Driving Under the Influence Termination Team, attend the Jan. 16 DUI Termination Task Force meeting at Monteleone Meadows in French Valley. Valley News/Will Fritz photo
Seven months after back-to-back fatal alcohol- and drug-related crashes in southwest Riverside County, community members are still working to solve the problem of impaired driving.The DUI Termination Task Force, or DUITT, held a community meeting Jan. 16, at Monteleone Meadows in French Valley, where representatives from the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the county District Attorney’s Office gave residents updates on DUI arrests in the area.Murrieta resident Karen Kools, who is the founder of DUITT, said she first found herself involved in the issue of driving under the influence in September 2018, when she witnessed the crash on Winchester Road in French Valley that killed 62-year-old Joan Lehmer.“At that point, I knew I wanted to d
