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NYPD Highway Cop Arrested For Drunk Driving With BAC Five Times Legal Limit


By

Ben Yakas

Published Sep 20, 2015

Modified Apr 11, 2018


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By

Ben Yakas

Published Sep 20, 2015

Modified Apr 11, 2018


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A veteran NYPD highway cop was arrested for drunk driving after he drove into a guardrail and was discovered to have a blood alcohol level of .43, more than five times the legal limit.

Officer John Finley, 45, was arrested on August 8th after he allegedly rammed his 2009 GMC Envoy into a guardrail on the West Shore Expressway on Staten Island. The News reports that after the crash, which occurred three days before his 45th birthday, police found a bottle of Georgi Vodka inside the SUV.

"At that level of toxicity he shouldn’t have been walking, let alone driving," a law enforcement source told the paper. Witnesses told the Post that Finley was slurring his words; they estimate that "a 200-pound man would have to drink 23 beers in two hours to score the near-fatal level of .43."

Finley, who has been on the force since 1990, was suspended from duty following the crash, but the Staten Island District Attorney’s office declined to prosecute at the time pending the results of a blood-alcohol test. He was arraigned Friday for aggravated DUI.

Tagged

bac

drunk driving

highway officer

John Finley

nypd

staten island


Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations


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