Montgomery County police will partner with Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Maryland State Police to conduct two sobriety checkpoints Thursday night in the county in honor of Noah Leotta, the county officer who died after being struck by a vehicle driven by a drunken driver on Rockville Pike in December.
County police announced Thursday they will join officers from Rockville City, Gaithersburg and the Maryland-National Capital Park Police departments to conduct one checkpoint, while Maryland State Police troopers will conduct a second checkpoint at a different location in the county.
Police did not reveal where the checkpoints will take place.
At the checkpoints, officers will hand out cards to drivers that include Leotta’s photograph and a message detailing how he was killed. The cards also include information about Noah’s Law, which will require drivers who are detected of driving under the influence of alcohol to install ignition interlocks on their vehicles, which will require them to blow into a tube to test their blood alcohol level before starting their cars. The law goes into effect Oct. 1.
Leotta, 24, was struck Dec. 3 while conducting a traffic stop on Rockville Pike as part of a holiday task force aimed at cracking down on drunken driving. Leotta died seven days after the collision at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda.
Luis Gustavo Reluzco, 47, the driver who struck Leotta, pleaded guilty in May to vehicular manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced in October. Leotta’s father, Rich Leotta, will join Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger as well as representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Washington Regional Alcohol Program to address officers during a roll call before the checkpoints are conducted, according to police.
Left: The card police officers plan to distribute. Via Montgomery County police
