A Pearl River man who drove through a police roadblock set up to protect Friday night's Share Christmas holiday event in downtown Pearl River is charged with drunk driving, according to Orangetown Police.
Police credited the fast-action of volunteer Orangetown Auxiliary Police officers who were assigned to the event for stopping the car as it went through the roadblock.
Kenneth Fairweather, 46, of 280 S. Middletown Road, is accused of driving a 1997 Toyota 4Runner through road closure barricades on South Main Street at about 8:11 p.m. and then driving between two marked police cars that were blocking access to the roadway, police said.
When Fairweather was stopped, police said he appeared intoxicated. Fairweather refused to perform field sobriety tests and later refused to submit to a chemical breath test for alcohol at Orangetown Police Headquarters in Orangeburg, police said.
Fairweather was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor. No one was injured in the incident.
Orangetown Lt. Anthony Mercurio said that as Fairweather drove through the police roadblock two town Auxiliary Police officers ran over to the car and banged on the windows to get the driver's attention. He said one of the Auxiliary officers managed to open a door of the car and remove the keys - stopping the car.
The Pearl River Rotary's 28th annual Share Christmas & The Holidays event took place at Braunsdorf Park. While it rained most of Friday and well into the night, a crowd of more than 100 gathered at the event, where kids could greet Santa and Mrs. Claus, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie The Pooh, Elmo, Captain America, The Hulk, Rudolph and many more. The rotary also collected new, unwrapped toys to donate to children.
"The volunteer auxiliary officers ran over to the car, banged on the window and one was able to open a door and take out the keys" leaves too much to the imagination billy.. was the car moving or stopped before they started banging on the window.. I hope it was already stopped,because if it wasn't someone could have been injured or worse, but then what did they really do that was instrumental, and how did they know he was drunk and had not just committed a burglary or murder and would stop at nothing to escape.they did't so was it moving or not and if it was how did they stop it-were they in cars?did the driver stop voluntarily don't blame me for having questions and i don't hate anyone and i do plenty of other things and if i made you sad i am sorry you get sad so easy and yes i have an imagination "Fairweather refused to perform field sobriety tests and later refused to submit to a chemical breath test for alcohol at Orangetown Police Headquarters in Orangeburg, police said". only smart thing he did if you know you will fail it never pays to take any test. police never take them if they are even given one on advice of pba counsel i suspect. . if anyone knows differently please link billy dee can answer all of the above. it is directed at him alone tic toc tic toc anyway
good thing he didn't feel threatened and accelerated into the crowd. they correctly did what they deemed necessary albeit without knowing the condition of the driver and lucked out but i think we can all thank god it did not go bad as it is easier to get out of the way of a car that is " driving slowly on Main St" than one that accelerated due to a perceived threat or desire not to be caught. i am very sure [no positive] they will get some award at some event for their efforts. had it been a regular citizen they would get nada i think they should have something like a radio controlled air horn that could be set off to signal "be aware-possible threat" to the attendees. cops +aux+people in charge can set it off in an instant with remote. I can't help but wonder what if anything could have been done in the event thy guys doors were locked. do aux police have guns?
Also, a big thank you to all the characters who patiently waited in the rain for all the kids to meet them and really put a big effort into making memories for these children.