Man arrested on Route 20

GUILDERLAND — On Sunday evening, police say, Jonathan D. Brainard stood in the middle of Western Avenue near the Princetown line, wearing an Albany Police Department jacket and holding a can of beer in his hand.

After several calls from passing drivers, Guilderland Police arrived to find him intoxicated and obstructing traffic, said Lieutenant Daniel McNally.  The first officer on the scene “tackled him to the ground,” McNally said, and the pair ended up in a ditch.  The officer was later taken to the hospital for possible shoulder dislocation, McNally said. 

Brainard, 26, of 3770 Western Turnpike, Altamont, reported no injuries, according to a release from the police department.

“He had a jacket on that had Albany PD patches on it,” McNally said, which resulted in a charge of first-degree criminal impersonation for Brainard, although he didn’t claim to be an officer.  He was also charged with second-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.  The can of beer with which Brainard hit the officer in the head qualifies as a weapon, McNally said.

Brainard was remanded to Albany County’s jail without bail, the release says.

— Saranac Hale Spencer