Arrested for DUI in National City? Whether a National City police officer stopped you on Plaza Boulevard, the CHP pulled you over where I-805 meets State Route 54, or you were waved into a checkpoint on National City Boulevard, your case goes to the South County courthouse in Chula Vista — and Joshua Price has defended DUI cases across San Diego County since 2009.
National City is the second-oldest city in San Diego County, and unlike Imperial Beach down the coast, it has its own police force. The National City Police Department, headquartered on National City Boulevard, makes the DUI stops on the city’s own streets: the long commercial run of National City Boulevard past the Mile of Cars, Plaza Boulevard up the hill, Highland Avenue, and 8th Street.
Those freeways are the other half of the story. Interstate 5 runs along the bay side of town, Interstate 805 cuts down the east side, and State Route 54 crosses between them along the city’s southern edge. A stop on any of them belongs to the California Highway Patrol, not the city police. Then there is the bayfront: Pepper Park and the marina district sit on Port of San Diego tidelands, which the Port’s own Harbor Police patrol. Three agencies can make a DUI arrest inside one small city, and each one builds its file its own way.
National City police also run announced DUI checkpoints on their own streets. In August 2025 the department set one up in the 3000 block of National City Boulevard from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., as part of the statewide “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. A checkpoint arrest is only as good as the checkpoint, and our DUI checkpoints page explains the rules it has to follow.
There is no courthouse in National City. DUI cases are filed at the South County Regional Center on Third Avenue in Chula Vista, a short drive south on I-5. The Chula Vista DUI guide covers that building, and the San Diego courthouses page shows how it fits with the rest of the county’s courts.
What matters is not how close a lawyer’s office is to the Mile of Cars. It is whether the lawyer knows the South County courtroom, the prosecutors who handle its DUI calendar, and how a file from the National City police, the CHP, or the Harbor Police tends to break down. Josh has handled drunk-driving cases across San Diego County since 2009, has trained other California lawyers in DUI defense, and is a past president of the California DUI Lawyers Association.
Two kinds of National City cases come up again and again. The first starts on the freeway: I-5, I-805, and SR-54 all meet within a couple of miles, and a stop for a late lane change through one of those interchanges has to be a lawful stop before anything that follows it counts. The CHP’s own video usually settles that question. The second starts at a checkpoint, where the question is whether the checkpoint itself was run by the book: announced in advance, placed and staffed safely, and screening drivers by a neutral rule rather than an officer’s hunch.
Most National City DUIs are misdemeanors, so Josh can usually appear for you at the Chula Vista courthouse. You don’t have to take time off work for every court date.
National City sits about ten miles from the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa crossings, and for many people who live here a DUI is not only a court case. If you are not a U.S. citizen, how your case is resolved can matter to immigration, and California law requires your defense lawyer to give you accurate advice about those consequences before you accept any plea. A plea that looks harmless in court can cause trouble later, so the wording of the plea needs attention up front.
The same goes for trusted-traveler passes. If you commute across the border with a SENTRI or Global Entry card, an arrest or conviction can put that pass at risk, because Customs and Border Protection reviews criminal history when deciding who keeps one. The time to plan for that is before the case is resolved, not after the card is revoked.
Service members face their own version of this. Naval Base San Diego, the Navy’s largest base on the West Coast, has its main gate on 32nd Street, just north of National City, and many of the people stationed there live in town. For a current or former service member, California’s military diversion law can turn a misdemeanor DUI into treatment instead of a conviction. The DUI diversion page explains who qualifies.
From a checkpoint arrest on National City Boulevard to a freeway collision charged as a felony, Josh handles the full range of DUI cases that come out of National City. His complete practice is on the DUI defense services page. These topics come up most often in National City cases:
Who handles each part of a National City DUI case, and how to reach them.
Address: 500 Third Avenue, Chula Vista, CA 91910
Phone: (619) 746-6200
Website: San Diego Superior Court, South County Division
Note: National City has no courthouse, so its DUI cases are heard here, a short drive south on I-5. See all San Diego courthouses.
Questions? (858) 289-2624
National City Boulevard — Photo: Der-wuppertaler, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Address: 1200 National City Boulevard, National City, CA 91950
Phone: (619) 336-4411
Website: National City Police Department
Note: The department runs its own announced DUI checkpoints, including one in the 3000 block of National City Boulevard in August 2025.
Questions? (858) 289-2624
Address: 5902 Kearny Villa Road, San Diego, CA 92123
Phone: (858) 293-6000
Website: CHP San Diego Area Office
Questions? (858) 289-2624
How it works: DMV APS / driver-safety matters are handled through DMV Driver Safety; confirm the current hearing office or remote-hearing assignment when the notice is issued.
Website: DMV Driver Safety
Deadline: You have only 10 days from arrest to request a DMV hearing — Josh handles DMV hearings
Questions? (858) 289-2624
Arrested on the bayfront, at Pepper Park or in the marina district? That stop was likely made by the Port of San Diego Harbor Police: 3380 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101, (619) 686-6200. Their cases go to the same Chula Vista courthouse.
At the South County Regional Center, 500 Third Avenue in Chula Vista. National City doesn’t have its own courthouse, so its DUI cases, whether the arrest was made by the National City police, the CHP, or the Harbor Police, are heard there. Your citation or release paperwork lists the date, time, and department.
Almost certainly the CHP, which patrols the freeways through National City. Your paperwork will say which agency arrested you. It matters for the defense, because each agency has its own procedures, breath-testing equipment, and video systems, and those are the records Josh reviews first. It doesn’t change the courthouse: the case still goes to Chula Vista.
It can. Customs and Border Protection reviews criminal history for its trusted-traveler programs, and an arrest or conviction can lead to a pass being suspended or revoked. If you depend on SENTRI to get to work or school across the border, tell Josh at the start so he can take it into account in how he handles your case.
Not before you get advice. Most first-offense DUIs are misdemeanors, but the details of a plea can matter for immigration, and California requires your defense lawyer to advise you on those consequences before you accept a plea. Talk to a lawyer first; it costs you nothing to ask and can save you a problem that is much harder to fix later.
Calls are answered 24/7. Whether it was a stop on Plaza Boulevard, a freeway stop, or a checkpoint on National City Boulevard, bring your paperwork and Josh will explain the DMV deadline, the Chula Vista court process, and what he would do next in your case.
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