Police: Man Who Drove Through Barricades at Holiday Event Again Charged with DWI

The Pearl River man who was arrested after he drove through the barricades set up to safeguard participants at a Pearl River holiday event two weeks ago was again arrested on a drunken driving charge Friday night in Pearl River, according to Orangetown Police.

Kenneth Fairweather, 46, of 280 S. Middletown Road, was arrested about 8:22 p.m. Friday after police received a complaint about a man passed out in a car at 56 N. Middletown Road. Police said town officers found Fairweather sitting in a running 1997 Toyota 4Runner, which was stopped in a traffic lane on Middletown Road.

Police said Fairweather appeared intoxicated and could not perform field sobriety tests. He was taken to Orangetown Police headquarters in Orangeburg, where police said he refused to take a chemical breath test for alcohol.

He was charged with driving while intoxicated and faces a Jan. 9 hearing in Orangetown Town Court.

Fairweather was arrested by Orangetown police on Dec. 7 in an incident at the Share Christmas celebration in Pearl River. At that time, police said Fairweather was charged with drunken driving after he drove around police barricades on South Main Street that were set up to protect participants in the holiday event.

Orangetown Auxiliary Police officers were credited with stopping Fairweather in his 4Runner by banging on his car and opening a car door so one of them could remove the keys from the vehicle. No one was injured in the incident.

Fairweather is also set to face the DWI charge from that incident in the Jan. 9 hearing.

The Pearl River Rotary's 28th annual Share Christmas & The Holidays event took place at Braunsdorf Park. While it rained most of that 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 Club also collected new, unwrapped toys to donate to children.