New Marina DUI checkpoints off to a rocky start.

John Kaza has a thing against DUI checkpoints. Over the last several years, the rural county resident says he has protested about 100 of them, and lately, he’s set his sights on Marina.

Kaza believes that generally, all checkpoints are a violation of personal freedoms, but specifically, he’s calling out an operation conducted by Marina Police on Dec. 17 of last year.

“Most roadblocks are set up illegally, that’s the norm,” Kaza says. “But what they did in Marina is beyond the pale.”

The Dec. 17 checkpoint was located near 3056 Del Monte Blvd., and police blocked off the two primary access points to a strip mall at that address. On Jan. 5, two business owners in the shopping center filed claims against the city: Steve Singh, owner of Steve’s Filipino Indian Market, filed a claim of $200 for lost business; Sonia Perez, a co-owner of Frutti Del Mar Grill, filed a claim of $1,200 for the same reason.

The checkpoint also led to a claim filed by Kaza, who was protesting the operation from a grassy median splitting Del Monte. He says he was ordered to vacate it under threat of arrest.

Kaza, as he always does during checkpoint protests, was broadcasting on a local FM transmitter and encouraging backed-up drivers to give the officers a piece of their mind. “There’s no law against being on the median, and it’s the only place I would be effective,” he says.

Kaza’s claim is for an unspecified amount between $10,000 and $20,000, for damages related to stress as well as punitive damages.

Marina’s checkpoints started in November, and were made possible in part by a one-year $60,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to promote DUI awareness. They have been occurring about once a month.

“OTS grants really do help support our traffic safety programs, and I expect we will continue to apply for [them],” says Marina Police Chief Edmundo Rodriguez.

Rodriguez says his department has since addressed the issue of blocking off entrances to businesses and side streets. He also says he understands where Kaza is coming from, but that he was asked to move off the median for safety reasons.

“It’s unsafe, we have drunk drivers,” Rodriguez says. “He wasn’t denied the right to protest.”

A small sample of Marina’s DUI accidents indicate the operations might be having an impact. Cmdr. Roberto Filice says from July 1 to Nov. 1, 2015 there were 10 DUI-related accidents in Marina. From Nov. 1 to Feb. 5, there were just two.

If the city denies the claims, the claimants have the option to sue.