CLIFTON PARK, NY — A Mechanicville man was arrested Saturday after allegedly crashing into a Saratoga County Sheriff’s patrol vehicle and fleeing the scene.
Thomas E. Fogarty, 51, of Mechanicville, was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 5th degree, leaving the scene of a personal injury motor vehicle crash, DWI, failing to stop at a stop sign, failing to yield right of way at a stop sign and refusing to take a preliminary breath test at the request of a police officer.
The crash occurred at 4:39 a.m. at the intersection of Kinns and Pierce roads.
The investigation showed that Fogarty had been operating a 2022 Toyota pickup truck that was traveling southbound on Pierce Road when he failed to both stop at a stop sign and yield the right of way to a marked Sheriff’s patrol vehicle that had been traveling westbound on Kinns Road.
Fogarty allegedly fled the scene and was located shortly thereafter by a Sheriff’s patrol on Twilight Drive where he was arrested.
He allegedly refused the chemical test.
The deputy who was struck was transported to Saratoga Hospital by Clifton Park-Halfmoon EMS where he was treated for an arm injury and released.
“I am extremely grateful that our deputy wasn’t seriously injured,” said Sheriff Michael H. Zurlo.
“The number of DWI arrests we have seen this year have been off the charts and a lot of them have been related to crashes. It’s a troubling trend; there is never a good reason to get behind the wheel of a vehicle intoxicated or impaired.”
Fogarty was arraigned before the Honorable Joseph V. Fodera in the Halfmoon Town Court where he was released on his own recognizance pending further proceedings.
The charges filed in the matter are not considered qualifying offenses for the purpose of setting bail under the New York state law that went into effect in January 2020.
The Sheriff’s Collision Reconstruction Unit also responded to the scene.
