The Public Safety Forum (SAFETY)

[Diverdan]

POLICE- Woman charged in collision with patrol car

By KEN LITTLE
Observer-Dispatch

VERNON — When she was charged Sunday night with driving while intoxicated and other offenses, Mary A. Rousseau told state police she thought she had struck a deer.

Instead, troopers said the 36-year-old Oneida woman nearly caused a head-on collision with a state police car about 6:40 p.m. on Route 5 when her eastbound vehicle veered into the westbound lane.

Oneida-based Trooper Martin Olenuch was able to swerve onto the Route 5 shoulder to avoid a full head-on collision with Rousseau’s 1988 Pontiac, which struck the patrol car’s left front side. The cruiser spun across the road before coming to rest in a vacant lot, Trooper James F. Simpson said.

Rousseau’s car lost a tire but continued eastbound on its rim about one mile before pulling into the back lot of Squat & Gobble restaurant on Route 5, Simpson said.

“I believe she had a drink in there,” Simpson said. “We received a call from the owner of the restaurant.”
State police responded and got an unexpected explanation from Rousseau, of Lexington Avenue.

“She thought she had struck a deer,” Simpson said.

Simpson said Rousseau was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.24 percent, more than twice the state limit for drivers of .10 percent.

Olenuch suffered neck and back injuries and was treated at Oneida Healthcare Center. He will be on sick leave at least one week, Simpson said.

Rousseau, who was not injured, was also charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and failure to keep right. She was arraigned in Vernon Town Court and released on her own recognizance pending a March 6 return court date.

Rousseau could not be reached for comment Monday.

“It’s a little scary to think that someone could strike another vehicle in a roadway, continue on and then think she struck a deer,” Simpson said.



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