POUGHKEEPSIE – The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) participated in a countywide traffic safety crackdown between July 2 and July 5. Police agencies throughout Dutchess County made 22 arrests during the targeted enforcement, including 21 impaired driving arrests.
These coordinated details were funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee and the NYS STOP-DWI Foundation, which once again awarded the Dutchess County STOP-DWI Program a “High Visibility Community Engagement “grant for the 2020-2021 engagement periods. The objective of this continued enforcement grant is to revitalize and enhance the visibility of the STOP-DWI Program through coordinated multi-agency impaired driving enforcement details targeting identified statewide high visibility community engagement periods. They also include the assignment of certified Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) to aid in the identification and apprehension of drivers impaired by drugs other than alcohol.
During this year’s Fourth of July Crackdown, members of the DCSO, New York State Police, Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department, City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, City of Beacon Police Department Town of Hyde Park Police Department, Town of East Fishkill Police Department, Village of Millerton Police Department, Village of Red Hook Police Department, Village of Wappingers Falls Police Department, and the Pine Plains Police Department conducted Impaired Driving details consisting of saturation patrols throughout the county in addition to their regular patrols.
Five of the 22 arrests were for felony charges.
- 34-year-old Village of Wappingers Falls resident Robert Derr was charged with felony DWI.
- 36-year-old Pleasant Valley resident James Young was charged with felony DWI.
- 49-year-old LaGrange resident Wilmour Mahon was charged with felony DWI.
- 22-year-old Germantown resident Jack Prinz was charged with felony DWI.
- 20-year-old Poughkeepsie resident Erik Steadman was arrested on two felony weapons charges.
Derr, Young, and Mahon were arrested by the New York State Police. Prinz was arrested by the Red Hook Police Department, and Steadman was arrested by the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department.
