POUGHKEEPSIE – A man is facing felony charges after an accident Friday night in the City of Poughkeepsie. Officers responded to a report of a vehicle that had struck a utility pole on South Clinton Street at 10:30 p.m.
When the police arrived, they found an 11-year-old child who told officers that he had been in the vehicle with his father who had been drinking. The child said that his father struck the pole and left him at the accident scene before driving away. The child indicated that he was experiencing neck pain. Police requested Mobile Life to the scene to evaluate the child.
As the child was being evaluated on South Clinton Street, City 911 received a call for a car off of the roadway several blocks away on Montgomery Street. Officers found the unoccupied vehicle and determined that it was the same one that had been involved in the South Clinton Street wreck.
Officers located the alleged operator walking away from the vehicle, and said that he was highly intoxicated. He was taken into custody and charged with the felony of Leandra’s Law DWI. He also faces charges of Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Leaving the Scene of an Accident.
The child was turned over to a family member after being evaluated by medics. The name of the suspect is being withheld to protect the identity of the child.
