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The Bronxville Police Department concentrated emphasis patrols in select parts of the village specifically looking for drunken drivers, according to Bronxville Police Chief Christopher Satriale. Those sobriety checkpoints resulted in two driving while intoxicated arrests while a third motorist was cited for unlawful possession of marijuana on the evening before Thanksgiving.
A routine traffic stop on Post Road In the waning hours of Friday night in Scarsdale led to village police making a fourth driving while intoxicated arrest in the area in two days.
Bronxville police made two near simultaneous arrests on Pondfield Road Shortly after 9 p.m. on the eve of Thanksgiving.
First, at 9:03 p.m., Briarcliff resident Daniel Sweeney, 21, was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana when Officer Steve Valentin detected the odor of the drug coming from the vehicle. Police recovered a small bag of marijuana in the side door panel, and his Volkswagen, which was registered to his mother, was impounded.
Two minutes later, James Fox, 27, of Pleasantville was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after he registered a blood alcohol content of .09 percent, .01 percent higher than the legal limit. Police released him on his own recognizance.
Shortly before midnight, John Keefe, 61, of Tuckahoe, was arrested and charged with a felony count of aggravated driving while intoxicated after he was found behind the wheel of his Saab with a blood alcohol content of .19 percent, nearly three times the legal limit. He was arraigned by Judge George Mayer before being released on $500 bail.
Each of the defendants are due back in village court on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Satriale said that the village was able to enact the emphasis patrols due to a grant from the county’s “Stop DWI program.”
“With one third of all fatalities on the highways involving impairment due to alcohol and drugs, we must continue to aggressively enforce driving while intoxicated offenses in order to prevent the devastating consequences of this crime,” he said.
At 11:16 p.m. on Saturday, Yonkers resident Wayne Battista was arrested in Scarsdale when Officer Michael Coyne stopped his vehicle after observing it repeatedly swerve back-and-forth over the double yellow line on Post Road.
According to the police report, the officer “observed his eyes, which were bloodshot and glassy. His speech was slow and slurred and he had trouble answering simple questions,” Coyne said. Battista claimed to have one beer before taking his field sobriety test. The driver was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated after his blood alcohol was marked at .10 percent.
Battista is due back in Scarsdale Village Court on Wednesday, Dec. 4.
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