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Arizona Sheriff To Run Chain Gangs At All-Star Game

PHOENIX (AP) -- Fans entering Chase Field for the Major League Baseball All Star Game will get to see one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's chain gangs picking up trash.

The Arizona Republic reports a group of inmates from the Maricopa County sheriff's holding area for suspected illegal immigrants will be on the chain gang with drunken driving offenders. All will be chained together and decked out in their striped jail uniforms.

Arpaio says it's his way of sending a message about the perils of drunken driving.

The self-proclaimed "America's toughest sheriff" has sent similar messages before, placing DUI chain gangs along Glendale Avenue during the last Super Bowl.

Arpaio also is known for putting inmates in tents and pink underwear and for banning coffee and R-rated movies from his jail.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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