Motorist, Friend, Sister Parade Into Drunk Tank

State troopers pulled over a motorist, charged him with drunken driving, then filed the same charge against his friend and then his sister when each came to the police station to pick him up.

“It’s strange, but it happens,” state trooper Edward Meyers said Thursday.

Steven Finning, 22, of Danbury, Conn., was pulled over Monday for speeding and driving erratically on Interstate 84. He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

A friend of Finning, Robert Fuda, 21, was driving behind him and saw the arrest. He followed the patrol car to the police barracks, according to Finning’s sister, Eve.

After troopers talked with Fuda, he was charged with driving while intoxicated. Both men refused to take breath tests, Meyers said.

The men then called Eve Finning. When she arrived, troopers began questioning her.

“They said my eyes looked glassy,” Eve Finning said. “I mean, it was 4 a.m. They charged me, too, and I definitely was not drunk.”

She agreed to take the sobriety test, failed it and was charged with drunken driving, Meyers said.

Anyone driving with a blood-alcohol level above 0.10% is considered legally drunk in New York state. Meyers did not say what Miss Finning’s blood alcohol level was.

All three were arraigned and released on $100 bail.

Miss Finning said they called another friend to pick them up. That friend was not arrested.