A 63-year-old Mentone man was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol Friday night after he was spotted on downtown surveillance cameras stumbling to his vehicle and driving away.

Frank Vega Hernandez was spotted by a camera operator in the Redlands Police Dispatch Center at about 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, as he stumbled to his 1993 Ford pickup parked in an alley near the 300 block of Orange Street.

As police responded to the area, Hernandez was seen pulling out of the parking lot and heading toward Citrus Avenue where police pulled him over.

Hernandez was arrested for driving under the influence and transported to Central Detention Center in San Bernardino.

The arrest was yet another demonstration of the value of the downtown surveillance cameras, said Police Chief Jim Bueermann.

“With limited resources, we can’t always have officers everywhere they are needed,” said Bueermann. “Surveillance cameras allow civilian dispatchers and volunteers to monitor problem areas and direct officers where they are needed. In this instance, an alert observer may very well have prevented a tragedy.”