David Cassidy charged with felony DWI in upstate New York

Singer-actor David Cassidy was charged with drunken driving in upstate New York early Wednesday, his second such arrest in three years.

The former teen idol from the 1970s musical sitcom "The Partridge Family" was charged with felony driving while intoxicated and failure to dim headlights after being stopped at a DWI checkpoint shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, according to The Record, of Troy, N.Y. He had been visiting area friends with his fiancee and had just exited Interstate 90 near Schodack, about 15 miles southeast of Albany, when he was stopped after failing to lower the high beams of his rental car.

Police said a field sobriety test showed Cassidy had a 0.10 blood-alcohol concentration. The limit for non-commercial drivers in New York State is 0.08. He was arraigned at the Schodack Justice Court and taken to Rensselaer County Jail, where he posted $2,500 bail.

"According to Tom Jones, the arresting officer, Mr. Cassidy was a gentleman the whole time," Schodack Police Chief Bernhard Peter said in a statement. Showing good humor, Cassidy quipped to the patrolman, "What's up, pussycat?," alluding to the similarly-named singer's 1965 hit, District Attorney Richard McNally told the Times Union of Albany.

Cassidy, 63, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., spends part of each summer in the Hudson River Valley, the newspaper said.

Cassidy's spokeswoman told Newsday she had not yet spoken to him and could not comment.

In November 2010, Cassidy was charged with drunken driving in Florida when state police stopped him on Florida's Turnpike in St. Lucie County. He pled no contest in February 2011.

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