STURGIS, S.D. (KELO) — Drug arrests are up and DUIs are evening out compared to last year as the second round of Sturgis Rally info comes from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
The South Dakota Department of Public Safety releases a Sturgis Rally Tally – a 24-hour (6 a.m. to 6 a.m.) recap for crashes, DUI arrests, drug arrests, citations and warnings for both Sturgis and the Rapid City district.
Note: Rally Tally numbers from DPS do not include data from the Rally’s official opening day Friday, Aug. 2.
From 6 a.m. on August 4 to 6 a.m. August 5, the combined Sturgis and Rapid City districts have seen a rise of 20 DUIs and more than 40 additional drug arrests.
Of the drug arrests from this time period, 41 were misdemeanors, while 27 were felonies.
DPS reports its numbers cumulatively, from the 3rd of August onward. Since their first record on the 2nd day of the rally, there have been 50 DUIs and 138 drug arrests, both misdemeanor and felony.
The DPS also provides year-to-date comparisons from 2023, which today show DUIs slightly down, drug arrests up and total citations down as well.
Perhaps most noteworthy is that, as compared to 2023, injury-crashes and fatalities are both down, with 12 fewer injury-crashes and no deaths yet in 2024.
Crashes
The first injury-crash noted by DPS for the August 4-5 time period occurred when a 1997 Honda Goldwing motorcycle pulling a trailer lost control on I-90 west of Murdo. The motorcycle tipped over, and the trail detached, hitting the passenger, who received life-threatening injuries.
Charges are pending against the driver, who received serious non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was wearing a helmet, while the passenger was not.
The five other injury crashes involved motorcycle drivers failing to negotiate curves, falling while attempting to stop, colliding while attempting to pass on a highway and being hit by a merging vehicle.
You can find the full report from the DPS, here.
Other Info
In addition to the stats listed above, the DPS also reports that $11,094.00 in cash was seized at the Rally from August 4-5.
