GREENWOOD LAKE – A 49-year-old Sussex, New Jersey man faces a possible one year in the Orange County Jail and loss of his driving privileges following his conviction in Greenwood Lake Justice Court to aggravated driving while intoxicated.
A four-day trial ended with Christopher Heddinger also being convicted of failure to keep right, speeding and other vehicle and traffic law violations.
At trial prosecutors argued that Heddinger was driving on Route 17A in Greenwood Lake on November 8, 2022 when a Greenwood Lake Police officer spotted the car he was driving speeding and crossing the double yellow line twice into the opposite lane of traffic.
After his car was stopped, Heddinger took and failed a series of roadside sobriety tests. Back at the police station, he submitted to a chemical test that determined his blood alcohol content to be 0.31, almost four times the .08 per centum level that New York constitutes a crime.
“This defendant chose to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while severely intoxicated, instead of calling for a taxi or choosing some other safe alternative,” said District Attorney David Hoovler. “By doing so, he chose to lace his interests before those of society.”
