Medford man charged with driving bus drunk on Northern State, police say
An MTA bus that was pulled over on the Northern State Parkway on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015. Credit: NYSP
A bus driver behind the wheel of a New York City Transit bus was charged Sunday with drunken driving after being arrested on the Northern State Parkway, police said.
New York State Police officials said Alexander Copeland, 52, of Medford was driving a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus, on his off day, and was not authorized to be driving the bus. He was pulled over by a trooper just east of Exit 32 for Post Avenue in Nassau at about 2:20 p.m.
The trooper detected "a strong smell of an alcoholic beverage," police said and Copeland failed sobriety tests. Copeland had a blood alcohol level of 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal standard of .08 percent, according to State Police.
He was arrested and charged with second degree reckless endangerment, unauthorized use of a vehicle without owners consent, aggravated driving while intoxicated and other traffic violations, police said.
Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.
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