SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. and#8212; Police arrested eight people early Thursday morning, including six-time X Games gold medalist Shaun Palmer, during a state-funded Cinco de Mayo patrol for drunken drivers.

Four people were arrested on suspicion of being unlicensed or driving on a suspended license and four people were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving during the DUI patrol, wrote Sgt. Shannon Laney in an e-mail Thursday morning.

Overall, the night was and#8220;pretty uneventful,and#8221; Laney wrote.

Among those arrested on suspicion of drunken driving was 41-year-old professional snowboarder Shaun Palmer, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office booking website.

Palmer did not return a request for comment left with his former publicist on Thursday.

Details of the arrest were also not immediately available, but the arrest was not the South Lake Tahoe resident’s first brush with local law enforcement.

In October 2006, South Lake Tahoe police arrested Palmer on suspicion of being drunk in public after police pulled over a a car in which he was a passenger. Police placed the female driver under arrest on suspicion of drunken driving and Palmer allegedly told police he wanted to go to jail with her.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Palmer on suspicion of public intoxication in July 2008 following an incident where he reportedly tried to break up a large fight at Baldwin Beach.

Charges against Palmer were dropped in both instances.

Wednesday’s DUI patrol, which included officers working overtime to look for drunken drivers, was paid for through a more than $320,000 grant from California Office of Traffic Safety.

The grant also funded a similar patrol by Placerville police on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Additional DUI patrols and checkpoints are planned for this summer under the grant, Laney said.