DWIs Still Rising

Arrests for driving while intoxicated continue to mount despite repeated warnings by police on the state, county, town, and village levels that a zero tolerance exists for the DWI menace.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Department arrested Richard Alexander, 25, of Pawling, last week after Deputy Fred Mark observed a car being driven erratically on Route 311 in Patterson. Additional charges of aggravated unlicensed operation were lodged since a computer check revealed the Dutchess man’s license had been previously suspended.

Deputy Corrine Musella investigated a property damage crash at 5pm on Route 22 in Patterson and arrested one of the drivers for DWI. Melanie Smith, 31, of Patterson, was also released to the custody of a family member following the arrest.

Kent Police arrested Paul Ferenc, 44, of Lake Carmel, after Officer Ray Beauchesne was dispatched to Montrose Drive in Lake Carmel at 10:15pm for a report of a vehicle in a ditch.

Lt. Alex DiVernieri said Officer Beauchesne found Ferenc seated behind the wheel of his Jeep with its engine running.

Ferenc was charged with DWI but when his blood alcohol level measured at .20 percent, or more than twice the legal limit for DWI, additional charges of aggravated DWI were lodged.

Ferenc was released to the custody of a family member pending future court action.

A Mahopac man is facing charges of DWI and leaving the scene of a property damage crash following his arrest last week by Yorktown Police.

Cops charged John Briggi, 52, after he allegedly fled the scene after his car struck a tree on Andre Place in Jefferson Valley.

Briggi was released to the custody of a friend pending an April 6 hearing in Yorktown Court.

Another Putnam resident, Debra Heyde, 49, of Putnam Valley, was also charged with DWI by Yorktown Police after her car was stopped at 4:40pm on Greenwood Street in Yorktown for being operated with an expired inspection sticker. Heyde was released to the custody of a friend pending an April 8 hearing in Yorktown.

State Police at Stormville made backto back DWI arrests on the Taconic State Parkway in Kent.

At 1am, troopers stopped a vehicle traveling at 74 mph in a 55 mph zone near Miller Hill Road in Kent. The driver, Anton Rudovic, 59, of Putnam Valley, was charged with DWI. A computer check determined the Putnam man had been previously convicted of drunken driving in Westchester three years ago. Due to the previous conviction, the charge was elevated to a felony.

Rudovic was released to the custody of his wife pending a hearing later this month in Kent Town Court.

Thirty minutes later, troopers stopped a car on the TSP that was being operated with illegally tinted windows. The driver, Joseph Mannese, 48, of Wappingers Falls, was arrested for DWI when troopers detected a strong odor of alcohol on the man’s breath.

When the man failed several field sobriety tests he was charged with aggravated DWI since his blood alcohol level measured at .21 percent, or more than twice the legal limit for intoxication. A computer check also determined that Mannese had been convicted of a previous DWI arrest in 2002 thus the charges were elevated to felonies.

The Dutchess man was also released to the custody of a family member pending a hearing in Kent later this month.