Former Congressman John Sweeny arrested on felony DWI charges
Former U.S. Congressman John Sweeney, of Clifton Park, was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with felony driving while intoxicated after receiving his second DWI in less than 18 months.
Former U.S. Congressman John Sweeney, of Clifton Park, was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with felony driving while intoxicated after receiving his second DWI in less than 18 months.
According to police, State Troop-ers pulled Sweeney over at 3:30 a.m.
after he was allegedly speeding on Route 9 in the town of Clifton Park.
Sweeney, 53, refused to take a breath test or blood test at the time,
police said. He was arraigned before Judge Robert A. Rybak in Clifton
Park Town Court at 6 a.m. The Saratoga County District Attorney's
office recommended bail be set at the amount of $2,000 cash, $5,000
bond. Sweeney was sent to County Jail in lieu of bail money, but was
released shortly after when his bail was posted.
Sweeney was previously found guilty on a misdemeanor DWI conviction after he was pulled over on November 11, 2007 and was found to have a blood alcohol content of .18, which is twice the legal limit. As a result, Sweeney's license was suspended on December 10, 2007 after pleading guilty to the charge. As part of his sentence he was required to attend a victim impact panel, pay court fines and surcharges, obtain an alcohol evaluation and proscribe with treatment if recommended. He was also required to take the New York State Drinker/Driver Program through DMV.
"We will treat this prosecution like any other felony DWI case. We are fortunate that his alleged conduct did not result in death or serious physical injury to himself or anyone else," Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy said in a press release. "The case will proceed through the criminal justice system like any other. Mr. Sweeney is presently in jail.
Our DWI prosecutors have already been in contact with the NYSP early this morning. Mr. Sweeney will automatically lose his privilege to drive on the pending charge for one year as mandated by DMV due to the fact that he refused the breath/blood test."
Sweeney is a former Republican Congressman of the 20th Congressional District. He lost his seat to now Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006.
Sweeney was due back in court on Thursday, April 9 at 5 p.m.
Tedisco takes lead in congressional race
Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has taken the lead in the race for the 20th Congres-sional District after trailing by more than 50 votes following the Tuesday, March 31 special election
Democrat Scott Murphy initially led the race for Kirsten Gillibrand's congressional seat, but by last weekend the candidates were tied with exactly 77,225 votes. Tedisco now leads Murphy by a margin of 76,914 to 76,817 after a recount of voting machines in Saratoga County.
The Board of Elections started counting absentee ballots in the congressional district's 10 counties on Wednesday April, 8. It is expected to take a few weeks to complete the ballot counting process.
Saratoga Springs Board of Education adopts budget; keeps property tax levy at current rate
The Saratoga Springs Board of Education unanimously adopted a $110.13 million budget for the 2009-10 school year on Tuesday, April 7.
The board that had previously anticipated a 3.91 percent school tax increase was able to keep the property tax levy at its current rate due to $3.4 million in state aid that the school district received through federal stimulus funds.The budget will now go to a public vote on May 19.
Prescription drug thief caught 24 hours after robbery
Saratoga Springs police arrested a homeless man in connection with the robbery of prescription drugs from a Rite Aid Pharmacy on Sunday, April 5.
Bradley V. Vandusen, 44, has been charged with one count of first-degree robbery, a class-B felony, and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a class-A misdemeanor, after police arrested him in connection with a hold-up at a Rite Aid store located at 90 West Ave. at 5:15 p.m. Sunday.
At 5:20 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a report of a robbery at the Rite Aid store after employees reported that a white male approached the pharmacy counter and handed an employee a note indicating that he had a gun and demanded specific medications, police said.
Employees complied with the suspect's demands and he left the store on foot with an undetermined amount of pills.
It was the second robbery of narcotics from a local drug store in a little more than a month. A CVS store located on Route 9 in Wilton was held up on March 2 when a male handed a pharmacist a note claiming he had a gun and demanded prescription drugs. Police said they do not know if there is any connection to the two crimes.
Spa City murderer sentenced
The man accused of murdering his friend in a Saratoga Springs hotel room after the duo had stolen more than 50 pounds of marijuana from a drug dealer in Vermont was sentenced to serve up to 30 years in prison.
Roger K. Aletras Jr., 36, of the Bronx, was sentenced in Burlington, VT before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William K. Sessions, III. He will serve 15 years in prison for the murder of
Kevin Arkenau, 25, of New Jersey, after he shot him twice in the head and left his body inside the former Sheraton Hotel on Broadway.
Aletras previously admitted that on Dec. 16, 2002 he and Kevin Arkenau went to Vermont and robbed two marijuana dealers of more than 50 pounds of pot in South Burlington. They then headed south, stopping at the Sheraton Hotel where Aletras shot Arkenau twice in the head before returning to the Bronx with the stolen drugs.
On top of his 15 year prison sentence, Aletras will also have to undergo five years of supervised release and pay the funeral costs of the victim. He is already serving a 17 year prison sentence for possessing an illegal firearm.
Juveniles arrested in Adopt-A-Soldier theft
Two juveniles suspected of theft during last year's Christmas robbery at Operation Adopt-A-Soldier in Wilton have been charged with third-degree burglary. The theft originally occurred on Dec. 18, 2008, when two teens allegedly stole several lottery tickets and $100 cash from gift baskets destined for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
After the robbery, the organization replaced the stolen goods at their own expense, and with the help of public support, they were able to send all of the gift baskets overseas.
Sweeney was previously found guilty on a misdemeanor DWI conviction after he was pulled over on November 11, 2007 and was found to have a blood alcohol content of .18, which is twice the legal limit. As a result, Sweeney's license was suspended on December 10, 2007 after pleading guilty to the charge. As part of his sentence he was required to attend a victim impact panel, pay court fines and surcharges, obtain an alcohol evaluation and proscribe with treatment if recommended. He was also required to take the New York State Drinker/Driver Program through DMV.
"We will treat this prosecution like any other felony DWI case. We are fortunate that his alleged conduct did not result in death or serious physical injury to himself or anyone else," Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy said in a press release. "The case will proceed through the criminal justice system like any other. Mr. Sweeney is presently in jail.
Our DWI prosecutors have already been in contact with the NYSP early this morning. Mr. Sweeney will automatically lose his privilege to drive on the pending charge for one year as mandated by DMV due to the fact that he refused the breath/blood test."
Sweeney is a former Republican Congressman of the 20th Congressional District. He lost his seat to now Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2006.
Sweeney was due back in court on Thursday, April 9 at 5 p.m.
Tedisco takes lead in congressional race
Assemblyman Jim Tedisco has taken the lead in the race for the 20th Congres-sional District after trailing by more than 50 votes following the Tuesday, March 31 special election
Democrat Scott Murphy initially led the race for Kirsten Gillibrand's congressional seat, but by last weekend the candidates were tied with exactly 77,225 votes. Tedisco now leads Murphy by a margin of 76,914 to 76,817 after a recount of voting machines in Saratoga County.
The Board of Elections started counting absentee ballots in the congressional district's 10 counties on Wednesday April, 8. It is expected to take a few weeks to complete the ballot counting process.
Saratoga Springs Board of Education adopts budget; keeps property tax levy at current rate
The Saratoga Springs Board of Education unanimously adopted a $110.13 million budget for the 2009-10 school year on Tuesday, April 7.
The board that had previously anticipated a 3.91 percent school tax increase was able to keep the property tax levy at its current rate due to $3.4 million in state aid that the school district received through federal stimulus funds.The budget will now go to a public vote on May 19.
Prescription drug thief caught 24 hours after robbery
Saratoga Springs police arrested a homeless man in connection with the robbery of prescription drugs from a Rite Aid Pharmacy on Sunday, April 5.
Bradley V. Vandusen, 44, has been charged with one count of first-degree robbery, a class-B felony, and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a class-A misdemeanor, after police arrested him in connection with a hold-up at a Rite Aid store located at 90 West Ave. at 5:15 p.m. Sunday.
At 5:20 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a report of a robbery at the Rite Aid store after employees reported that a white male approached the pharmacy counter and handed an employee a note indicating that he had a gun and demanded specific medications, police said.
Employees complied with the suspect's demands and he left the store on foot with an undetermined amount of pills.
It was the second robbery of narcotics from a local drug store in a little more than a month. A CVS store located on Route 9 in Wilton was held up on March 2 when a male handed a pharmacist a note claiming he had a gun and demanded prescription drugs. Police said they do not know if there is any connection to the two crimes.
Spa City murderer sentenced
The man accused of murdering his friend in a Saratoga Springs hotel room after the duo had stolen more than 50 pounds of marijuana from a drug dealer in Vermont was sentenced to serve up to 30 years in prison.
Roger K. Aletras Jr., 36, of the Bronx, was sentenced in Burlington, VT before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William K. Sessions, III. He will serve 15 years in prison for the murder of
Kevin Arkenau, 25, of New Jersey, after he shot him twice in the head and left his body inside the former Sheraton Hotel on Broadway.
Aletras previously admitted that on Dec. 16, 2002 he and Kevin Arkenau went to Vermont and robbed two marijuana dealers of more than 50 pounds of pot in South Burlington. They then headed south, stopping at the Sheraton Hotel where Aletras shot Arkenau twice in the head before returning to the Bronx with the stolen drugs.
On top of his 15 year prison sentence, Aletras will also have to undergo five years of supervised release and pay the funeral costs of the victim. He is already serving a 17 year prison sentence for possessing an illegal firearm.
Juveniles arrested in Adopt-A-Soldier theft
Two juveniles suspected of theft during last year's Christmas robbery at Operation Adopt-A-Soldier in Wilton have been charged with third-degree burglary. The theft originally occurred on Dec. 18, 2008, when two teens allegedly stole several lottery tickets and $100 cash from gift baskets destined for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
After the robbery, the organization replaced the stolen goods at their own expense, and with the help of public support, they were able to send all of the gift baskets overseas.
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