Oneida-based state police charged a Canastota man with felony DWI under Leandra’s Law following an accident investigation in Kirkville Tuesday evening.
At approximately 11:30 p.m. Aug. 2, Trooper Joseph LeWorthy responded to investigate a car/pole motor vehicle accident on Fyler Road in Sullivan. He determined that a 2005 Ford Explorer driven by Lawrence S. Conners, 48, of Caroline Street, Canastota, was eastbound on Fyler Road when the vehicle left the road and struck a utility pole.
Conners advised the trooper that he was distracted by his two child passengers, ages 2 and 4, as they were arguing in the back seat and he drove off the road into the pole.
hile interviewing Conners, it appeared that he was impaired and field sobriety tests indicated he was under the influence of drugs. Conners was transported to the SP Sullivan barracks, where a drug recognition expert conducted an evaluation and determined Conners was impaired by prescription medications.
Conners was charged with DWAI-drugs, felony aggravated DWI with a child in the vehicle and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned in Lenox Town Court and released on his own recognizance to appear in Sullivan Town Court Aug. 16, 2016.