Dennis pleads to felony DWI

Tuesday, November 25, 2014 - 17:05

Steven Dennis

WESTERLO — A Delmar man, on Wednesday, pleaded guilty to felony driving while intoxicated in October.

Steven Dennis, 25, pleaded guilty to the class D felony in front of Judge Stephen Herrick in Albany County Court.

According to a press release from the Albany County District Attorney’s office, events unfolded this way:

At approximately 7:16 p.m. on Oct. 13, a deputy from the Albany County Sheriff’s Department observed Dennis, in a Jeep, parked in Newry Road at the intersection of Route 32 in Westerlo.

The deputy expected Dennis to make a U-turn, but Dennis started his Jeep and fled, leading the deputy on a high-speed pursuit, and nearly striking a pedestrian.

Dennis made a left turn onto Route 32 and drove in and out of a ditch on Carr Road, and then continued onto a dirt road, where his crashed his Jeep into a tree, disabling it.

He admitted to drinking alcohol before driving, and registered a blood alcohol content of .13 on a breath test.

Dennis was driving illegally at the time of his arrest, without a valid driver’s license and in circumvention of an Interlock Ignition Device, which had been installed due to a prior felony driving while intoxicated conviction in October 2013, the release said.

He faces two to six years in state prison, a $2,000 fine, participation in a Victim Impact Panel, three years of mandatory Interlock Ignition Device upon release from custody, and an 18-month license revocation, when he is sentenced on Jan. 8, 2015

The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Dave Szalda of the Vehicular Crimes Unit.

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