GUILDERLAND — A highway department employee was arrested for driving while intoxicated, while off duty, on March 12.

Howard R. Haver, 49, was driving on Gardner Road in a Ford pickup truck, around 9:40 p.m., when he lost control of his vehicle, skidded across the road and back again, crashing through a snow bank and into a utility pole, according to Captain Curtis Cox of the Guilderland Police Department.

Haver’s was the only vehicle involved in the accident and he was the only occupant of the truck, said Cox.

The Guilderland Police report said Haver took off on foot after his car hit the utility pole, and that he was located a short time later.

The report said that Haver told officers he had left his truck because he was “nervous.”

Officers noted an odor of alcohol and Haver failed field sobriety tests, the report said.

He was arrested at the scene for driving while intoxicated, first-offense, and driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or greater, both misdemeanors.

Steve Oliver, the superintendent of the Guilderland Highway Department, told The Enterprise that Haver’s job would not be affected by the arrest.

“He will be fine; there are protocols in place for drug and alcohol use for town employees,” Oliver said. “He feels bad enough about what happened and just wants to move on.”