Former Congressman John Sweeney was arrested Monday for aggravated drunk driving. He was pulled over on the Northway (I-87) and blew a .18 on the breathalyzer. No surprise given his history of drunk driving incidents:
In 1978, Sweeney, then 23, was convicted of driving while ability impaired after being stopped in Rensselaer County. That didn't keep him from becoming the county's Stop-DWI coordinator four years later. He was elected to Congress in 1998.Sweeney was also reportedly in a bar fight in 2004.
In 2001, Sweeney slammed a Jeep into a utility pole on his way home from the Willard Mountain ski area, cutting power to part of Washington County. At the time, State Police said Sweeney took his eye off the road to adjust the radio and lost control on the gravel on the right shoulder. No charges were filed.
[from earlier in the story]
In April 2006, the Union College student newspaper, the Concordiensis, ran photos of Sweeney at a college fraternity party. Students quoted in that story and in the Times Union said Sweeney appeared intoxicated, a charge he later denied.
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Sweeney and his ex-wife, Gayle, finalized their divorce in September. The pair exchanged allegations of domestic abuse last summer, with Gayle Sweeney saying she feared for her life. In 2006, the Times Union obtained a State Police dispatch report which showed Gayle Sweeney called police in December 2005, alleging her husband was "knocking her around."
The surprise part of Sweeney's arrest is the 23-year-old woman on his lap. Maybe he met her at Union College last spring? Or one of his children introduced him to on of their friends. Local Republicans are probably just happy that it wasn't a 23-year-old man.
Albany Times-Union: Source: Sweeney passenger a shock
Arresting State Police officers in DWI case surprised to find a woman on ex-congressman's lap
Let's hope Sweeney sees the light and goes into alcohol rehab; at least the judge should take away his driver's license. He is a menace to society, thinking he can drink and drive and break the law with impunity.
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