Dad collared for driving ATV drunk

Gerard A. Richard

GUILDERLAND — A father with his baby in his lap was arrested on Saturday, July 3, for driving his ATV while drunk.

At 6:21 p.m., Guilderland Police stopped Gerard A. Richard on Morningside Drive; he was driving an all-terrain vehicle “and had a small child on his lap, between the operator and the gas tank,” according to the Guilderland Police report. Neither Richard nor his 1-year-old son, Eric, were wearing a helmet.

Richard, 39, of 1 Veeder Lane, in Guilderland, fared poorly on field sobriety tests and took a breathalyzer test that showed a blood alcohol content of .12 percent, according to the report.

When the officer stopped the 2005 Honda ATV, he smelled alcohol and Richard stated he drank four to five beers and had just finished the last one, the report said. The child was turned over to his mother as the sobriety tests were administered.

Richard was charged with an infraction, for having an unregistered ATV; three misdemeanors — driving while intoxicated, driving with a blood-alcohol content greater than .08 percent, and endangering the welfare of a child; and a felony, aggravated DWI, known as Leandra’s Law.

The state law, adopted in 2009, is named for Leandra Rosado, who was killed that year at age 11 in New York City when her friend’s mother, who was allegedly drunk, flipped the car, killing Rosado and injuring six other children.

Leandra’s law, formally known as the Child Passenger Protection Act, makes it an automatic felony to drive drunk with a passenger under the age of 16.

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