Police: Drivers Had Booze in Their Systems, Kids in their Cars

Vernon Police over the weekend took two people into custody for allegedly driving drunk with children in their vehicles, a department spokesman said. 

One driver was from New York City and the other local, police records indicate. 

The spokesman said that on Friday at 11:42 p.m., Vernon Police received a call from a "concerned citizen" about an erratic driver on Talcottville Road, also known as state Route 83. The citizen followed the vehicle as it pulled into Countrywood Apartments, 631 Talcottville Rd., the spokesman said. 

Vernon officers responded and located the vehicle. The driver, Kwadwo Kwakye, 26, of 1240 Sherman Ave. in The Bronx, was given a field sobriety test, which he failed. In Kwakye's vehicle were children a 4 and 5, the spokesman said.
 
Kwakye did not have a valid driver's license, the spokesman said. Kwakye was charged with driving under the influence, driving without a license and risk of injury to child, police records indicate.

The children were placed with a family member, the police spokesman said. Kwakye posted a $2,000 bond and has a court date of Nov. 9 in Rockville, according to an arrest report. 

On Saturday,  at 9:12 p.m., a Vernon officer on patrol observed a vehicle driving erratically on Route 30, a police spokesman said. 

The officer stopped the vehicle on South Street near Route 30.  The operator, Robert Apted, 41, of 101 South St. in Vernon, failed a field sobriety test, the spokesman said.  

An infant was in the vehicle at the time, the spokesman said. The vehicle was also unregistered, police records indicate. 

Apted was charged with DUI, risk of injury to a minor, and operating an unregistered motor vehicle, according to police records. He posted a $500 bond and has a court date of Nov. 19, records indicate. 

The child was placed with a family member, a police spokesman said.