Crime & Safety

Hamden Couple Charged with DUI After Accident in Snow

The family that [allegedly] drinks together...gets arrested together.

 

Forty inches of snow didn't stop one Hamden couple from allegedly driving drunk on Sunday, according to Hamden Police.

At about 5:30 p.m. on Sunday police got a report of an accident at the intersection of Pine Rock Avenue and Jones Road, according to police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith.

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When officers got there, they found a running unoccupied vehicle up against a snow bank, Smith said. They tracked down the alleged driver, Edwin Velez III, 33, of 368 Pine Rock Ave., at his home, Smith said.

Officers determined that Velez was driving with his wife, April Cassidy Velez, 32, and their 5-year-old in the car when it crashed, Smith said. Edwin Velez failed sobriety test, Smith said, and his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he was driving the car with his wife and child in it.

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He was charged with driving while intoxicated and risk of injury to a minor, Smith said, and released after posting a $500 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Meriden Superior Court on Feb. 22.

A few hours after he was arrested, his wife came to take him home, Smith said, and officer realized that she too was drunk. The pickup truck she drove to the Police Department, parked in a "Police Vehicles Only" space, in had in it empty beer bottles and a bottle of wine, Smith said, and in the bed, which was filled with snow, was a six-pack of beer.

April Cassidy Velez was then charged with driving while intoxicated, Smith said. She too was released after posting a $500 bond and also is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22.

The incident was reported to the Department of Children and Families, Smith said. Officers Gabe Garcia and Justin Martin conducted the investigations.


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