HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. – Hillsborough County authorities spent the Fourth of July weekend pulling dozens of impaired drivers off local roads and waterways during a massive multi-agency crackdown.
The joint enforcement blitz, led by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office alongside the Tampa Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol, and the University of South Florida Police Department, heavily flooded the county with patrols.
Over the holiday weekend, officers conducted 263 traffic stops, issuing 235 warnings and 28 citations. The intensified effort resulted in 37 DUI arrests on land, though marine units reported zero Boating Under the Influence (BUI) arrests despite pulling over 74 vessels.
“Every impaired driver we took off the road this weekend was at least one life potentially saved,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said following the operation. “This joint operation with our local law enforcement partners should be a warning that the impaired operation of any vehicle or vessel, on land or water, will not be tolerated in Hillsborough County.”
The weekend’s most chaotic incident occurred early Monday morning, July 6, 2026, when a routine traffic stop took a strange turn. Just before 4 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a Nissan Rogue near North Dale Mabry Highway and Medical Drive because the vehicle was driving in the dark without its headlights on.
As the vehicle ground to a halt, the deputy watched the driver, 28-year-old Keinier Contreras Villa, and his passenger, 55-year-old Antonia Evangelista, frantically scramble to switch seats inside the cabin. Amid the mid-car shuffle, the suspects forgot to secure the vehicle, causing the Nissan Rogue to roll backward directly into the deputy’s parked patrol car. Law enforcement officials confirmed that no one was injured in the minor collision.
The investigation quickly led to bookings for both occupants. Contreras Villa faces a slate of charges, including Driving Under the Influence, Possession of Cocaine, Resisting an Officer Without Violence, and operating a vehicle with No Valid Driver’s License.
Evangelista was also taken into custody, facing charges of Driving Under the Influence (Second Conviction) and Refusal to Submit to Testing.
Following the holiday weekend totals, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office reiterated that its DUI enforcement teams operate year-round. Local authorities continue to urge drivers to plan their travel in advance by designating a designated driver or using rideshare services.
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