MAYFIELD - A Saratoga County man was charged with reckless endangerment and driving while intoxicated Sunday after an incident in which a state trooper was dragged along 25 feet of pavement on Route 29.
Fonda-based state police Investigator Paul Cituk said driver Sean McNamee, 41, of Clifton Park was charged with felony first-degree reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated and unlawfully fleeing from police as well as numerous state vehicle and traffic law violations.
Cituk said the injured officer was Trooper Brian Beardsley of the Mayfield state police barracks.
He said the incident occurred at 8:05 p.m. Sunday on Route 29 near Blue Bird Lane in the town of Mayfield, where Beardsley was directing traffic at the scene of an accident.
"He observed a vehicle westbound traveling at excessive speed," Cituk said.
He said Beardsley instructed McNamee to pull his 1996 Ford car to the shoulder, and the driver complied. As the officer walked up, Cituk said, he noticed several empty beer cans on the passenger seat and the smell of alcohol on McNamee's breath. Cituk said Beardsley found McNamee to be intoxicated and struggling to understand his directions and get his paperwork out of the glove box.
Cituk said the trooper asked McNamee to turn off the car, and when the man failed to comply, Beardsley reached his arm into the car to turn off the ignition. At that point, Cituk said McNamee put the car in drive, and Beardsley's right arm became wedged between the headrest and the window opening.
The investigator said McNamee then dragged the trooper about 25 feet with his arm stuck in the driver's side. Cituk said Beardsley was able to free himself, and McNamee took off heading west.
Cituk said the trooper got into his patrol car and chased McNamee, catching him on Progress Road and arresting him.
Beardsley was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam with a strained right shoulder. Cituk said he was treated and released.
McNamee was arraigned in Town Court and sent to the Fulton County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond.