Hot Toddy at Wheel of Hot Car Leads to Arrest

OSSIAN – It may not have been a hot toddy, but police say that a Palmyra woman was spotted on Sunday drinking an alcoholic beverage and running a stop sign while failing to signal, and to boot was at the wheel of a stolen vehicle.

According to a press release from Sheriff Thomas Dougherty, Amanda Hunter, 32, was arrested for Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, a class E Felony, as well as several vehicle and traffic violations including Failure to Stop at a Stop Sign, Failure to Keep Right, Failure to Display a Signal, and Consuming an Alcoholic Beverage in a Motor Vehicle.

On Sept. 6 at about 10:27 p.m., Deputy Michael Wade of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office stopped the vehicle for vehicle and traffic law violations at the intersection of McCurdy Road and Ossian Hill Road in the Town of Ossian.

A check of the vehicle’s registration showed that the 2003 Ford Taurus had been reported stolen by the Greece Police Department on September 5, 2015.

The investigation and arrest was handled by Deputy Michael Wade of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office, assisting him on scene was Sergeant James Merrick of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office and Trooper Michael Kleinhans of State Police in Geneseo.

Assistant District Attorney Hill Justin Hill of the Livingston County District Attorney’s Office recommended bail be set in the amount of $5,000 cash or $10,000 secured bond, but North Dansville Town Court Justice Joshua Weidman upped the ante and remanded Hunter to the Livingston County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 dollars secured bond.

Hunter is scheduled to appear in Ossian Town Court at a later date.