NY politician who warned about driving drunk charged with DUI

VICTOR, N.Y. (AP) — The top republican in the New York State Assembly was charged New Year’s Eve with driving while intoxicated in his state-issued vehicle, just a week after he wrote a newspaper column warning citizens against getting behind the wheel drunk.

Brian M. Kolb, a Republican from Canandaigua who represents a district just outside Rochester, was arrested near his home after what he called a “lapse in judgement.”

Authorities said they were called to a crash in Victor just before 10:30 p.m. after a vehicle ran into a ditch.

Kolb was found to be the driver of the 2018 GMC Acadia that crashed in front of his home.

An Ontario County sheriff’s deputy administered field sobriety tests, which Kolb failed, before taking him to jail.

While there, authorities said a breath test indicated Kolb’s blood-alcohol content was over 0.08%, which is the legal limit for driving in New York.

No one else was injured. Officials did not say where Kolb was driving from.

Kolb said there was no excuse.

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