Drunken Northway ride nets prison time for Schenectady man

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tatiana Zarnowski

A Schenectady man whose drunken 130 mph drive on the Northway was captured on a cellphone before he crashed, injuring one of his passengers, was sentenced Thursday to 1 1⁄2 to three years in prison.

Anton K. Hawkins, 26, of 436 Manhattan St., was sentenced by Judge Jerry J. Scarano in Saratoga County Court. After he gets out of prison, Hawkins will be required to have an alcohol-sensing ignition interlock device on his vehicle for three years to ensure he is sober before the car will operate.

Hawkins pleaded guilty in March to felony second-degree vehicular assault.

The crash happened in November, when Hawkins lost control of the Toyota Camry he was driving south in Halfmoon. The car spun and flipped onto its roof, coming to rest in the Northway’s northbound lanes.

One passenger was seriously injured, and others suffered minor injuries. A cellphone in the vehicle later was found to have video taken just before the crash, with the speedometer recording almost 140 mph, authorities said. Police confirmed the speed using GPS technology on the phone to pinpoint its location at various times.

“The cell video of the car careening down the Northway going 130 mph with music blasting on the stereo is chilling,” Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said. “It’s beyond frightening to think that this defendant was actually driving and a miracle that he didn’t kill someone.”

Also Thursday in Saratoga County Court:

• Carl Nazarian, 55, of 32 Wishing Well Lane, Rexford, pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in Clifton Park in December. He is to be sentenced in June.

• Alfred C. Jones Jr., 48, no address available, pleaded guilty to third-degree attempted burglary, which he committed in Milton in March. He will be sentenced in June.

• Bryan Van Apeldorn, 33, of Rensselaer, admitted to driving drunk in December in Malta and will be sentenced in June.

• Richard A. Janes, 33, of 151 Bockes Road, Greenfield, admitted to committing second-degree attempted assault in January in Greenfield.

• Peter J. Rupp, 33, of 1208 Newberry Court, Ballston Spa, was sentenced to time already served in jail for committing fourth-degree grand larceny in July in Wilton. He also will get five years’ probation.

• Steven Whitcroft, 29, of 228 County Route 70, Stillwater, was sentenced to two to four years in prison and ordered to pay $960 in restitution for committing fourth-degree grand larceny, a charge he admitted to in March. The crime happened in December in Wilton.

• Jason A. Thompson, 25, of 1 Compton Road, Clifton Park, was sentenced to time already served in jail plus five years’ probation for driving drunk in Saratoga Springs in June 2011.

• Pierre LaFrance, 50, of Pinckney, Mich., was sentenced to 10 months in the Saratoga County jail and ordered to use an ignition interlock device for three years because of a DWI arrest in July in Wilton.

• Kenneth W. Wilson, 58, of 439 Gurn Springs Road, Gansevoort, was sentenced to a year in the Saratoga County jail and three years’ use of an ignition interlock device for driving drunk in Wilton in August.

• Glenn Ames, 46, of Brainard, was sentenced to five days in the Saratoga County jail and five years’ probation for a DWI charge in Clifton Park in August.