NEW SCOTLAND — A drunk driver caused a head-on crash Saturday before striking a pole in Feura Bush, police say; the driver nearly collided with a police car as he recklessly passed cars near the Bethlehem athletic compound on Route 32.

Bethlehem Police Department Officer Timothy Travis was on patrol northbound on Route 32 just past the athletic compound facility when Donald H. Hojnicki, 25, of Albany, drove “straight at him in the wrong lane,” said Commander Adam Hornick.

“The defendant was passing three other vehicles,” Hornick said. Travis turned around and tried to catch up to Hojnicki, who kept driving on Route 32 into Fuera Bush.

 Hojnicki continued to pass multiple vehicles in a no-passing zone for another half-mile before hitting a Ford head-on, the police report said, then veered into a telephone pole by Mauro’s Menu in Feura Bush.

“The officer came over the bridge [on Route 32] — he was still on the bridge when the defendant ended up near Mauro’s market,” Hornick said. “The whole incident took place over seven-tenths of a mile.”

Travis immediately rendered aid to the driver of the Ford, whose right leg was fractured, police say.

“A lot of neighbors were outside,” Hornick said. “People came over to help.”

Hojnicki suffered no injuries, he said.

“The thing that’s important is this can happen anytime of day or night,” Hornick said. “He had a blood alcohol content above .18 percent at 12:45 p.m. on a Saturday. It shows the degree of people driving while intoxicated. It can happen at any time of day.

“A gentleman was raking leaves. Debris from the collision ended up several feet away from him,” Hornick continued.

 “It’s a very dangerous situation; it’s crowded,” Hornick said. “It’s a very well-traveled area in Feura Bush with the Stewart’s and the church.”

More than 20 years ago, he said, a vehicle struck a child in the area.

Hornick said that the drivers who were passed by Hojnicki, and the pedestrians who saw the crash, cooperated and gave statements about the accidents.

“The community really came together,” he said.

Hojnicki was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree vehicular assault, and second-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, all felonies; and driving while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08, aggravated operation of a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content greater than .18, and reckless driving, all misdemeanors; and multiple violations, police say.
Hojnicki was arraigned in Bethlehem Town Court by Judge Andrew Kirby and remanded to the county’s jail in lieu of $7,500 bail. He was due in court on Oct. 27.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police in New Scotland responded to the incident, as did the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company and Albany County Paramedics.

Additional charges against Hojnicki in the Town of New Scotland are pending from the State Police, police say.