9 Year-Old Child In Car As Driver Arrested For Felony DWI On Taconic: NYSP

YORKTOWN, NY — A Putnam County man was arrested for potentially putting the life of a child at risk in Westchester County, according to state police.

The New York State Police say that on Sunday, around 10 p.m., troopers from Stormville stopped a vehicle traveling north on the Taconic State Parkway, in the town of Yorktown, for traffic violations.

While speaking with the driver, 34-year-old Anthony T. Mercado, of Mahopac, troopers noticed signs of intoxication, according to police. Standardized field sobriety tests were administered, which Mercado failed, NYSP said.

State police say that a nine-year-old child was also in the vehicle at the time of the stop.

Mercado was arrested and taken for processing, where his blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was found to be 0.12 percent, police said.

State police said the child was turned over to a sober party.

Mercado was charged with felony aggravated driving while intoxicated with a child passenger; misdemeanor driving while intoxicated; and several vehicle/traffic violations.

He was released with traffic tickets and is scheduled to appear in the Town of Yorktown Court on April 15.

An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect that only one child was present in the car at the time of the stop. New York State Police initially reported 3 children were in the car, but have since apologized and confirmed that only one child was in the car.