WAPAKONETA — OVI checkpoints will be held in Auglaize County Friday evening, May 18, the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSP) announced on Thursday.

The OVI checkpoints are planned to deter and intercept impaired drivers. According to a press release from the OSP Wapakoneta post, the event is being paid for by federal funds.

“Based on provisional data, there were 379 OVI-related fatal crashes in which 405 people were killed last year in Ohio,” Lt. Scott Carrico, commander of the Wapakoneta post, said in the release. “State troopers make on average, 25,000 OVI arrests each year in an attempt to combat these dangerous drivers. OVI checkpoints are designed to not only deter impaired driving but to proactively remove these dangerous drivers from our roadways.”

The checkpoint location will be announced Friday morning.