Crystal
02-18-2005, 10:06 AM
A wild ride ends with DWI charge
By ANNE MILLER, Staff writer
First published: Friday, February 18, 2005
COLONIE -- An out-of-control driver injured a telephone worker, flattened a picket fence and smashed the car of a good Samaritan who tried to stop the mayhem before police finally arrested him on a drunken-driving count.
The incident began at 1 p.m. Thursday, when Richard Lilkas, driving a black 1995 Nissan, allegedly veered off Central Avenue and hit a Verizon employee working on roadside phone lines.
The Nissan reportedly kept going. A driver who saw the accident pulled in front of Lilkas to slow down the Nissan, according to town police Lt. Ken Pero.
Lilkas allegedly rear-ended the driver's car and kept going. Police said he swerved onto Maryland Avenue, lost control on a curve toward Tennessee Avenue and hit a mailbox. The car zoomed across the road and onto a lawn, flattening a 6-foot picket fence, Pero said.
"It was a mess," Pero said. "You had a mailbox shattered all over the road, you had car parts all over -- I think he left his front bumper on Central Avenue."
On the front lawn, Lilkas reportedly gunned the engine to back up and caught his front tire on a utility pole's guy wire. The wire did what police and witnesses couldn't -- stop the Nissan.
Pero said neighbors reached in the car and took the keys. Lilkas got out and walked toward Pero. "He knocked me over with the alcohol" on his breath, Pero said.
The Verizon worker was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital. Police said he was listed in serious condition but his injuries did not appear life-threatening.
Lilkas, 47, of 51 Tennessee Ave., was charged with two counts of felony driving while intoxicated and one count each of felony leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and leaving the scene of a property accident, a violation. He was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1995.
He was arraigned in Town Court on Thursday and sent to Albany County jail.
By ANNE MILLER, Staff writer
First published: Friday, February 18, 2005
COLONIE -- An out-of-control driver injured a telephone worker, flattened a picket fence and smashed the car of a good Samaritan who tried to stop the mayhem before police finally arrested him on a drunken-driving count.
The incident began at 1 p.m. Thursday, when Richard Lilkas, driving a black 1995 Nissan, allegedly veered off Central Avenue and hit a Verizon employee working on roadside phone lines.
The Nissan reportedly kept going. A driver who saw the accident pulled in front of Lilkas to slow down the Nissan, according to town police Lt. Ken Pero.
Lilkas allegedly rear-ended the driver's car and kept going. Police said he swerved onto Maryland Avenue, lost control on a curve toward Tennessee Avenue and hit a mailbox. The car zoomed across the road and onto a lawn, flattening a 6-foot picket fence, Pero said.
"It was a mess," Pero said. "You had a mailbox shattered all over the road, you had car parts all over -- I think he left his front bumper on Central Avenue."
On the front lawn, Lilkas reportedly gunned the engine to back up and caught his front tire on a utility pole's guy wire. The wire did what police and witnesses couldn't -- stop the Nissan.
Pero said neighbors reached in the car and took the keys. Lilkas got out and walked toward Pero. "He knocked me over with the alcohol" on his breath, Pero said.
The Verizon worker was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital. Police said he was listed in serious condition but his injuries did not appear life-threatening.
Lilkas, 47, of 51 Tennessee Ave., was charged with two counts of felony driving while intoxicated and one count each of felony leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and leaving the scene of a property accident, a violation. He was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1995.
He was arraigned in Town Court on Thursday and sent to Albany County jail.