Metro is taking extra steps to keep our roads safe this weekend. A DUI check point will be set up within the northwest area command.

Officers will be out from about 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. Other than getting drunk drivers off of the roads, they will be enforcing traffic laws.

Despite more people coming to the valley, there were fewer deadly crashes this year than last.

According to local law enforcement, Metro has seen a decrease in the number of traffic related deaths, from 163 in 2006 to 129 this year.

Nevada Highway Patrol has seen the same trend. Their numbers are down from 119 to 91.

At Metro's Northwest Area Command, they're trying to keep that trend going by ticketing speeders and arresting drunk drivers Friday night.

Alcohol accounts for 60-percent of deaths on the highway, but Metro says its DUI checkpoints and STEP programs are keeping accidents from happening.

“I would attribute that to our citizens being more involved and more aware — being more responsible. Learning not to drink and drive. Learning it's always safer to either stay where you are or have someone drive for you,” said Metro Officer Tony Morales.

Metro has been enforcing DUI's more in 2007 and NHP says it's been ticketing more for moving violations that can result in accidents, like lane-change violations and tailgating.

Both agencies say the increased enforcement shouldn't come as a surprise.

“We try to make it so that everyone's aware. Basically, you can't say you didn't know,” said Morales.

Friday night's DUI checkpoint is part of the STEP program, where every few weeks, officers are in different parts of the valley saturate dangerous intersections.

They're looking for drunk drivers and speeders and this weekend, plan on seeing more black & whites on the roads.

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Building inspectors are telling a Las Vegas family they can't move back into their home due to damage caused by a pickup truck that skidded into a house early this morning.

No one is hurt in the 4 a.m. crash off Gowan Road near the 215 Beltway in northwest Las Vegas. Las Vegas police ticketed the driver for speeding.

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Thanks to the quick actions of several citizens, a purse snatcher is in custody after attacking an elderly shopper. The robbery happened at a busy Summerlin shopping center in broad daylight.

The victim, a 73-year-old Summerlin resident, had just walked out of a Long's Drug Store and was about to get into her car. That's when she says a young man came up from behind and grabbed her purse.

Helen Stern says she felt her whole shoulder get yanked back. By the time she turned around, two men were running away with her purse. Stern says she screamed and several citizens came to her aide.

One even started chasing the suspects — cell phone in hand calling 911.

Police swarmed the area and captured one of the robbery suspects who was hiding in a nearby backyard. He is in custody.

Officers say they know who the second suspect is and expect to have him in custody by Saturday.

Their elderly victim is okay and wiser for the experience. “I was more intent on just getting into my car and going back home,” she said.

Ramon Denby with Metro Police says shoppers need to be aware of their surroundings. “Shoppers are caught up in the spirit of the season. They're not paying attention to their surroundings and environment. There's a lot more cash on hand out there, and our suspects know this,” he said.

Extra police officers are on patrol in the malls and around shopping centers throughout the holiday season as part of Metro's holiday safety initiative. But police say they need the community's help to keep everyone safe.

Police urge you to be aware of your surroundings, shop with a friend, don't count your cash in public, lock your car and don't leave your valuables in plain sight.

Investigators says just taking a few extra safety precautions would eliminate up to 90-percent of the robberies and burglaries they see during the holiday season.

Metro says these two purse snatchers face up to 30 years in prison for strong arm robbery of an elderly victim — who had only ten dollars in the purse they took.

As the areas around Las Vegas continue to spread out into the desert, more and more wildlife is finding its way into neighborhoods. This week three bobcats had to be removed from homes and an elementary school.

Eyewitness News talked with neighbors who say they're glad the danger is gone but wished it would have ended differently.

The bobcat roamed a Summerlin neighborhood for about four hours Friday jumping in and out of people's backyards. Many were happy when Metro came to remove the animal, but their relief was quickly quieted by three gunshots.

It was like any neighborhood crime scene, only this time the line between victim and murder was blurred.

Jeff Wilson, a neighbor, said, “It ripped open their bird cages and killed their birds, so at that point I figured that it was a dangerous, or hungry animal.”

“I'm just surprised that I see a bobcat around here,” said Sam Melendez, who also lives in the neighborhood.

Walking along a fence, the cat seemed to be searching backyards prompting people to grab their pets and their young children.

Jeff continued, “It was about 15 feet from her when I had seen it and I was thinking wow that is a really big house cat until I saw the bob tail.”

When police arrived the cat had gone into a backyard where the owner says it was hiding in a bush.

Sam added, “He must have been pretty hungry to come down from the hills.”

Melendez stayed inside with his small dog, as officers surround the bobcat. “Cornered the bobcat over there and they shot him, I heard three times,” he said.

The neighborhood was happy the threat was over but they never expected their call for help would end the cat's life.

“It was kind of sad to see it but I kind of wish they would have relocated it. But that is how it goes. It's better, I guess, than it killing someone's dog or hurting a child,” Wilson said.

Neighbors say the cat seemed to only be looking for food and just went after the three small birds.

In the two previous cases of bobcat sightings, the cats were either never caught only tazed.

E-mail Reporter Amanda Hernandez.