22-Year-Old Croton Falls Woman Arrested For DWI After Outage: NYSP

NORTH SALEM, NY — The weekend's power outage was caused by a reckless and intoxicated driver, according to New York State Police.

Troopers say they arrested a Croton Falls resident, 22-year-old Amberlyn R. Leonard, on Saturday for DWI and a slew of other vehicle and traffic violations.

On Saturday, around 3:30 a.m., state police arrived on the scene of a one-car accident on Route 22 in North Salem. Troopers found a downed utility pole and wires with a fire in the roadway and a car pulled over onto the shoulder.

Troopers say Leonard was traveling at an unsafe speed when she exited the roadway and struck a utility pole and rock wall. Further investigation resulted in the arrest of Leonard for driving while intoxicated and she was taken to SP Somers for processing. She is due in the town of North Salem Court on May 8.

The accident occurred at the intersection of Sun Valley Heights Road and Route 22, causing fire damage to the road that the NYS Department of Transportation is repairing. The Sunset Ridge and Croton Falls water districts were on generators.

Power was out until NYSE&G put the pole back up hours later.

The Croton Falls Fire Department arrived on the scene on Route 22, near the train station, after reports of a transformer explosion and a motor vehicle accident with injuries and a car fire. They determined that the car struck a pole causing the pole and wires to come down onto the roadway. Firefighters stretched a hose line to prevent the fire from spreading and closed down nearby roads.