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.
