Police News

Putnam Woman Tails Intoxicated driver to Danbury

Talk about taking the law into your own hands!

A Patterson woman whose pick-up was struck in a hit-and-run crash on I-684 by a man arrested for DWI followed the suspect to his residence in Danbury where cops took the motorist into custody.

The incident occurred early Sunday on the interstate in Southeast when State Police said the unidentified 50-year-old woman reported being struck by a white pick-up that fled the scene. The victim told a dispatcher she was uninjured and was following the vehicle. When the pursuit entered Connecticut, Danbury Police were notified and the woman remained on her cell phone and provided police with directions to the suspect’s home.

Police charged Angel Matailo, 35, of Danbury with DWI minutes after he pulled into his driveway with the Patterson woman patiently waiting in front of his home.

Additional charges of leaving the scene of an accident were lodged by officials in New York.

A Tainted Drink

An elderly Mahopac man faces charges of attempted assault when appearing in Yorktown Town Court this evening (Thursday) after allegedly tainting his wife’s drink during a dinner engagement in Mohegan Lake.

Yorktown Police arrested Rudolph Guarracino, 82, last week after officers were summoned to Charlie Brown’s Restaurant on Route 6.

Lt. Richard Malan said an investigation by Detective Sean Lewis determined that “Mr. Guarracino had poured an unknown substance into the woman’s glass of beer with the intent of making her sick.”

The woman was treated at the scene by Mohegan Lake Fire Department EMS crews and was taken to Hudson Valley Hospital Center for additional testing before being released.

Lt. Malan said police had sent a sample of the beverage to a laboratory for examination.

Guarracino was arraigned on the attempted assault charge in Yorktown Justice Court before Judge James Gilbert and was released without bail pending future court action. The judge served the Mahopac man with a temporary order of protection prohibiting the man from having any contact with his wife.

District Attorney Adam Levy said the charge was a Class A misdemeanor carrying a potential year in jail if found guilty.