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Attica man charged with DWI in Pembroke crashes vehicle in Darien a few hours later

By Alecia Kaus

Jeffrey Russell Hamill, 34, of Attica, was charged with DWI, aggravated DWI, and speeding after a traffic stop on Route 77 in Pembroke about 1:43 this morning.

A few hours later, Hamill crashed his vehicle on Route 238 in the Town of Darien and had to be transported by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester with a possible head injury.

According to Corfu Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schollard, Hamill called his girlfriend to give him a ride after being charged with DWI in Pembroke. After being processed on the charges by the the Genesee County Sheriff's Department, his girlfriend drove him to his vehicle. He proceeded to drive toward Attica and she followed him in her vehicle. 

About 4:40 a.m. Hamill's vehicle went off the road on Route 238 near Griswold Road in Darien. It went down a ravine, striking a tree before coming to rest. Side and front air bags were deployed.

Hamill was not seriously injured, but had an altered level of consciousness and a possible head injury.

Genesee County Sheriff's Office is investigating and charges are pending.

david spaulding

"after being processed on the charges by the GCSD,he proceeded to drive his vehicle towards attica"........something is wrong here.is the sheriff's dept really out to get drunk drivers off the road or just looking for the revenue it generates?
the question most of us are asking is why did he regain access to his vehicle?
i'm no law enforcement genius,but i believe a tow truck was in order as soon as he was arrested......oh you are drunk,sign here,here are your keys sir.oh,and don't drive..

Feb 3, 2013, 11:14am Permalink
Kyle Couchman

LOL David I have to agree with you on this too, thats 2 in one day. Impound the vehicle and process him. From the story his girlfriend was supposed to take him home but instead she took him to his vehicle or something. Its stupid and if I had been the deputy I would have waited at the vehicle after release, and nailed him on a second dwi charge. But I guess now they will have blood to test from the hospital and earn a second charge.

Feb 3, 2013, 12:25pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

It is a routine matter to release a DWI suspect after booking. A friend or family member is supposed to take the person home, not back to his or her car.

I wouldn't expect a deputy or police officer to babysit the matter. They have other work to do -- the first time some deputy was out doing surveillance on a car on the off chance the driver might return, and then some other crime went down in another part of the county, people would be complaining about the deputy wasting his time watching a parked car.

Feb 3, 2013, 12:50pm Permalink
david spaulding

the vehicle should have been towed.....simple as that....when i was young that was standard procedure,in my case anyways.when you sober up you locate your vehicle,pay towing and storage fees and hopefully you are fully able to drive safely.
what do lawenforcement do now,leave the vehicle on the side of the road? that alone is a safety hazard.

Feb 3, 2013, 2:09pm Permalink
scott williams

Yes routine but the judge has the option to release you or keep you either way I hope he lives and this teaches him and I agree Howard no babysitting he is an adult. Most states make it mandatory to stay over nite.
you need a 3 day cool off period enforced by the state when you buy a gun but you can drive 4000lb. Bullet right after getting a ticket for driving drunk.

Feb 3, 2013, 2:26pm Permalink
Gary Spencer

I agree that the vehcile should have been towed ~ should be evrytime somebody is charged with DWI, I also think anybody charged with DWI should spend 24 hours in jail. I have done a little research on this topic, some states (17 if I remember) impoound a drivers car, and some don't give it back ~ its sold at auction to help pay for costs of inforcing DWIs.

Feb 3, 2013, 3:05pm Permalink

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