ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A state commission says an upstate New York judge accused of driving drunk and crashing into a building should be censured.
The state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct released their decision Monday against Michael Petucci, who has been a justice for the Herkimer Town Court since 2008.
Petucci, who is not an attorney, last year finished a term as president of the New York State Magistrates Association, which is a professional association for town and village justices.
The censure is tied to a December 2018 incident in which Petucci had five drinks and later drove his vehicle into a building, according to the commission.
The commission said Petucci yelled obscenities and was “otherwise belligerent” to a paramedic and a police sergeant. The man also refused to take a field sobriety test and cursed at the sergeant when asked to take a roadside breath test.
He pleaded guilty last year to driving while his ability was impaired by alcohol and was sentenced to pay a fine and attend a victim impact panel, according to the commission.
The commission criticized the judge, who was licensed to carry a handgun, for carrying a loaded firearm and a full magazine of ammunition with him during the crash. They said he showed “extremely poor” judgement by carrying the firearm while drinking.
Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian issued a statement Monday saying the judge made a “grave mistake” and was lucky to have not harmed anyone when he crashed.
“He compounded his wrongdoing by carrying a loaded gun while his faculties were so impaired,” Tembeckjian said in the statement. “To his credit he is conscientiously engaged in counseling to abstain from alcohol.”
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Ryan Tarinelli is a corps member for Report for America, a nonprofit organization that supports local news coverage in a partnership with The Associated Press for New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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