A husband and wife from Suffern are both charged with driving while intoxicated after they were involved in a two-car accident in which three people — including a woman who is seven-months pregnant — were injured early this morning in Pearl River, according to Orangetown police.
The husband, Eugene Kurilenko, 46, is charged with felony DWI because of a previous drunken driving conviction. He and his wife, Deborah Kurilenko, 43, switched seats in the 2007 Dodge Caravan after the accident in an effort to conceal the fact that Eugene Kurilenko was driving, police said.
The driver of the other car in the accident and his two passengers all complained of injuries and were taken to by ambulance to Nyack Hospital for treatment.
Orangetown police said they were called to East Washington Avenue in Pearl River to investigate an accident at about 12:15 a.m. and found Eugene Kurilenko standing outside his car — staggering and having difficulty walking. Police said his wife was behind the wheel of the Caravan with the keys in the ignition and the engine running.
However, police said that it was Eugene Kurilenko who was driving the car at the time of the accident involving his Caravan and a 1995 Ford driven by a 36-year-old Haverstraw man.
The Haverstraw man told police he was headed west on Central Avenue in Pearl River when the Caravan went through a stop sign at Henry Street and hit his car. Police said Eugene Kurilenko then fled the accident, driving the wrong way on Henry Street, a one-way road.
Police said the Haverstraw man followed the Caravan and was able to cut it off, preventing Eugene Kurilenko from driving the minivan any further.
The Haverstraw man and his two passengers, police said, reported they saw Eugene Kurilenko get out of the driver’s seat of the Caravan and switch places with his wife, who had been sitting in the front passenger seat.
Eugene Kurilenko refused to answer any questions or submit to a field sobriety test, police said, noting Eugene Kurilenko repeatedly told a poice officer that his wife was driving, not him.
The husband and wife were both arrested and taken to Orangetown police headquarters in Orangeburg, where Eugene Kurilenko was charged with DWI as a felony due to a 2007 DWI conviction in New Jersey. He was also charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, refusal to submit to a chemical breath test for alcohol, failure to yield and disobeying a stop sign. Deborah Kurilenko submitted to a breath test and was charged with DWI, a misdemeanor, police said.
Eugene Kurilenko was released on $160 bail and his wife was released without bail. Both are due in Orangetown Town Court on Dec. 14.
