RIVER NORTH — Police say they'll saturate Lincoln Park and the Near North Side with extra patrols looking for drunken drivers Friday night, just before an action-packed summer weekend that includes the Pride Parade.
The extra patrols will be deployed between 7 p.m. Friday and 3 a.m. Saturday throughout the Chicago Police Department's Near North district, an area that includes all or parts of River North, Streeterville, the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park and Old Town.
The patrols will be looking for speeders and seat belt violations in addition to impaired drivers, police said.
The crackdown coincides with a busy summer weekend in Chicago that includes the NHL draft at the United Center, the three-day Country LakeShake Festival at Northerly Island and the Pride Parade on Sunday in Boystown.
